Anton Perer-Bueno, 24, and James Perer-Bueno, 28, were charged with wire fraud and money fraud in what the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) described as the first robbery of its kind. He was charged with laundering. The brothers, who were educated at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), are said to have orchestrated a technologically sophisticated scheme to steal $25 million in Ethereum in April 2023.
“The Perer Bueno brothers stole $25 million in Ethereum in a technologically sophisticated, state-of-the-art scheme that was planned over months and executed in seconds,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. Stated. He emphasized that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) played a key role in unraveling this unprecedented wire fraud and money laundering scheme.
Prosecutors say the brothers used highly specialized skills gained from their MIT education to exploit Ethereum's transaction validation process. The indictment details that Anton and James studied mathematics and computer science, giving them the expertise to carry out this complex fraud.
“The defendants’ plan calls into question the very integrity of the blockchain,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said, referring to the public ledger that records cryptocurrency transactions.
The brothers allegedly manipulated Ethereum traders, illegally accessing and altering pending private transactions, and obtaining victims' cryptocurrencies. This quick operation, known as an “exploit,” took just seconds to execute and demonstrated the brothers' advanced technical capabilities.
Prosecutors said the scheme involved setting up a series of Ethereum validators to build blocks on the blockchain. They targeted his three traders, who were operating a Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) bot for arbitrage trading. The brothers tested bait-and-switch trading to understand arbitrageur strategies. Once selected to validate a new block, they proposed trades that were likely to be front-run by arbitrageurs.
Perer Buenos exploited a bug in Ethereum and tampered with the proposed block. They allowed traders to complete purchase transactions and then replaced their buy orders with sell orders for the same illiquid cryptocurrency. As a result of this operation, the arbitrageur purchased the tokens at an inflated price, and the brother received his $25 million profit.
Investigators pointed out that the brothers took steps to launder illegal profits. When contacted, Ethereum representatives refused to return the stolen funds. Anton Perer-Bueno conducted an online search for cryptocurrency exchanges using minimal “customer awareness” protocols and crypto laundering techniques. James Peraire-Bueno searched for terms such as “money laundering,” “exploitation,” “computer fraud abuse,” and “Is the U.S. extraditing?” [foreign country]', showing a sense of guilt.
The Department of Justice emphasized that this is the first time that such a new form of cryptocurrency fraud has been criminally prosecuted. If convicted, Anton and James Peraire-Bueno each face more than 20 years in prison.
This incident highlights the evolving nature of financial crime in the digital age and raises serious concerns about the security of blockchain technology. The outcome of this case will set an important precedent for handling similar cases in the future, and may have an impact on protection measures for virtual currency transactions.
terry jones
digital asset desk
