Jack Texeira, the Air National Guard member who was arrested in April for sharing documents containing US intelligence matters, has been indicted on six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified national defense information. According to The New York Times, Texeira was indicted by a federal grand jury and now faces up to 60 years in prison. His 10-page indictment reportedly contained a distilled version of the national secrets Texeira allegedly took from the Cape Cod air base and shared with people on Discord. 

The Justice Department arrested Texeira in April in connection with its investigation on the "alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information." While previous reports said he shared national secrets using a pseudonym on Discord, he was identified through the Instagram account he linked to his Steam profile. The photos on that account showed the same granite kitchen countertop and floor tiles that were also visible in the leaks. 

According to the 10-page indictment documents, Texeira mishandled classified information that included details on the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine, as well as details on Russian and Ukrainian troop movements. He also reportedly leaked documents showing how the US spies on its foreign allies. Some of the documents he shared with the public had markings to show that they had the most highly restricted classification and could only be viewed inside a protected facility. 

Previous reports said Texeira didn't intend to become a whistleblower and only started sharing documents to impress his gaming friends. He started by copying sensitive information by hand, since he worked at a facility that prohibited cameras and phones, but was eventually able to post photos of original documents. Since he was arrested, prosecutors presented his history of making violent and racist threats to court. The Justice Department's national security division also argued for his indefinite detention, because he could still be in possession of information that would be "tremendous value to hostile nation-states." In addition, the Justice Department has revealed that Air Force officials failed to remove Texeira from his job and to take appropriate action after catching him copying sensitive details and actively looking for classified information months before he was arrested. 

The US Department of Justice announced today that it charged two Russian nationals for crimes related to the 2011 hacking of Mt. Gox, the now-defunct crypto exchange that was one of the world’s largest at the time. Alexey Bilyuchenko and Aleksandr Verner are accused in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) of laundering about 647,000 bitcoins connected to the heist. In addition, Bilyuchenko faces separate charges in the Northern District of California (NDCA) related to running the infamous Russian crypto exchange BTC-e.

The pair are being charged in SDNY for conspiracy to commit money laundering. Meanwhile, the NDCA charges are for conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money services business. The SDNY charges carry a maximum sentencing of 20 years for each defendant, while Bilyuchenko faces a maximum of 25 years in prison in the NDCA indictment.

The DOJ says Bilyuchenko, Verner and co-conspirators gained access to the server storing Mt. Gox’s crypto wallets in or about September 2011. Once they infiltrated the servers, the pair and their partners allegedly initiated the transfer of customers’ bitcoins to accounts they controlled. In addition, they’re accused of laundering the stolen bitcoins to accounts on other crypto exchanges also controlled by the group.

The conspirators allegedly negotiated and entered into a fraudulent “advertising contract” with a New York bitcoin brokerage service, a relationship they used to request regular transfers to “various offshore bank accounts, including in the names of shell corporations, controlled by Bilyuchenko, Verner, and their co-conspirators.” The DOJ says the group transferred over $6.6 million from March 2012 to April 2013.

“This announcement marks an important milestone in two major cryptocurrency investigations,” said US Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. “As alleged in the indictments, starting in 2011, Bilyuchenko and Verner stole a massive amount of cryptocurrency from Mt. Gox, contributing to the exchange’s ultimate insolvency. Armed with the ill-gotten gains from Mt. Gox, Bilyuchenko allegedly went on to help set up the notorious BTC-e virtual currency exchange, which laundered funds for cyber criminals worldwide. These indictments highlight the department’s unwavering commitment to bring to justice bad actors in the cryptocurrency ecosystem and prevent the abuse of the financial system.”

Last month, Hyundai agreed to pay $200 million to settle a class action lawsuit in the wake of a viral TikTok car theft challenge. The deal promised to pay out about $145 million to US Hyundai and Kia owners who had their cars stolen or damaged by a theft attempt — but the settlement didn't put the matter to rest. New York City has announced that it's now suing the automaker for negligence and being a public nuisance.

Specifically, the city accuses the automaker of choosing to "sacrifice public safety for profits" by eschewing common anti-theft technology from certain US model Kia and Hyundai vehicles. New York City alleges this was a market specific choice, noting that Hyundai and Kia vehicles sold in European and Canadian markets do, in fact, have vehicle immobilizers installed "because regulations there expressly require them."

This led to a rise in thefts after the "Kia Challenge" went viral on TikTok earlier this year — with videos demonstrating how certain Hyundai vehicles can be quickly hot-wired using a simple USB cord.

The result, the city says, was unprecedented, with a 660% increase in Hyundai and Kia vehicle thefts in the first four months of 2023 when compared to the previous year. New York City says this has resulted in not only more reports of theft, but other safety issues, including reckless driving, and violent altercations between thieves and vehicle owners, all of which it claims has made New York City less safe and caused undue burden on police resources. New York City is requesting a trial by jury and is seeking punitive and compensatory damages.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is acting on concerns crypto giant Binance may have broken the law with its US operations. The regulator has filed 13 charges against Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao accusing the two of violating securities laws. Most notably, officials claim Binance knowingly undermined its own international compliance controls to help US investors keep trading on Binance.com when they were only supposed to rely on the separate Binance.US system. Zhao and his company also controlled Binance.US "behind the scenes," the SEC alleges.

The Commission also maintains that Binance and Zhao mixed and diverted customers' assets at will, including with the Zhao-owned Sigma Chain. The company and its US affiliate are further accused of running unregistered exchanges, broker-dealers and clearing agencies, with Zhao serving as the control. They also allegedly sold unregistered crypto assets, the SEC adds.

The SEC aims to not only force Binance to comply with the law, but to bar Zhao from helming any domestic securities issuers. It also wants the company to disgorge its financial gains from the alleged violations, and to pay additional penalties.

We've asked Binance for comment. Reuters investigators reported that Binance commingled $20 million from a corporate account with $15 million for a customer-oriented example. The company denied the allegation, saying that the relevant accounts were only used to "facilitate" cryptocurrency purchases and that the funds were exclusively corporate.

The SEC allegations come a few months after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed its own charges against Binance and Zhao. It too accused the crypto firm of skirting US regulations and offering unregistered crypto assets. Unlike the SEC, the CFTC charged former compliance officer Samuel Lim.

The action against Binance is the latest phase in a broader crackdown against the crypto industry. FTX and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried are facing numerous charges over alleged fraud and bribery. New York State has sued former Celsius chief Alex Mashinsky over purported fraud, while the SEC has charged Terraform Labs with running a "multi-billion dollar" fradulent operation. Combine this with Congress' efforts to shape crypto policy and there's intense pressure on crypto exchanges to alter their practices.

Police have arrested a South Carolina man after he allegedly robbed a convenience store armed with a Nintendo light gun primarily used in the 1980s to play Duck Hunt, Hogan’s Alley and Gumshoe, as originally announced by York County deputies. The 25-year-old suspect allegedly made away with $300 in cash after donning a mask, wig, hoodie sweatshirt and the aforementioned Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Zapper gun accessory.

Police allege the suspect waved the fake gun at a clerk and demanded money from the cash register. Authorities found him down the street in a Dollar General parking lot with the fake pistol in his pants. The original 1984 accessory is famously bright orange and gray, but authorities say the suspect spray-painted his black, likely so it would resemble a functional firearm. The York County Sheriff’s Department released an image of the doctored gaming accessory on its Twitter account.

The original light gun accessory, called the Zapper, shipped with the NES and used an internal optical sensor to translate trigger presses to on-screen action. The primary use was Duck Hunt, though it worked with a handful of titles throughout the console’s lifespan.

Using a fake gun to commit a crime is no joke and has been a serious issue for decades. A 1990 study conducted by Congress found that fake guns were used in more than 15 percent of robberies. It’s worth noting that in most parts of the country, using a fake gun to commit a crime carries similar penalties to that of a real firearm, as the threat of danger is very real to victims. After all, these toy or replica guns look nearly identical to the real thing. To that end, New York State recently passed legislation banning toy guns unless they are clearly fake, such as those painted with bright colors.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance reportedly mixed its revenue with customer funds at a US bank in 2020 and 2021. A source said to have direct knowledge of company finances told Reuters that commingling happened almost daily in Binance accounts at Silvergate Bank and concerned sums that ran into the billions.

The news agency said it reviewed records showing that, in February 2021, Binance mixed $20 million from a corporate account with $15 million from one into which customer funds were placed. Reuters noted that it found no evidence of client funds being stolen or lost. Still, under US financial regulations, customer money must be kept separate from business revenue.

Binance has denied commingling customer funds and its revenue. “These accounts were not used to accept user deposits; they were used to facilitate user purchases” of cryptocurrencies, Binance spokesperson Brad Jaffe told Reuters. “There was no commingling at any time because these are 100 percent corporate funds.” Jaffe added that users weren't depositing funds when they sent money to the account, but instead were purchasing BUSD, a stablecoin issued by Binance and Paxos that's pegged to the US dollar.

However, in late 2020 and during 2021, Binance's website is said to have stated that customer dollar transfers were "deposits" that were credited to trading accounts in BUSD. The site also reportedly informed users that they'd be able to "withdraw" deposits in USD. Former US regulators suggested to Reuters that the language "created the expectation that clients’ funds would be safeguarded in the same way as traditional cash deposits."

Binance is already in hot water with US authorities. In March, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission accused the company of operating in the US illegally and said it had broken several financial laws. In its complaint (PDF), the CFTC said Binance had "commingled funds." The agency is seeking permanent trading and registration bans against the defendants, who include Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. In a blog post, Zhao claimed that Binance blocks US users on several bases, including nationality, IP address (including common VPN access points) and mobile carrier.

Earlier this month, reports suggested the Justice Department was investigating the company over potential violations of sanctions imposed on Russia. Binance also recently said it would exit Canada due to tighter cryptocurrency regulations.

If the prospect of a cryptocurrency exchange mixing customer and company funds sounds familiar, that's because it's one of the many crimes US authorities have accused FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried of. Bankman-Fried has claimed he didn't knowingly commingle funds and has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. On Tuesday, it emerged that federal prosecutors have accumulated over 6 million pages of evidence (including emails and Slack messages) as part of their criminal case against Bankman-Fried. 

FTX’s collapse late last year was triggered by a bank run on the company that Binance initiated. Binance planned to snap up FTX but pulled out of the deal after taking a look at the latter’s books.

For many years, rumors have been flying around that Apple has been working on a self-driving car, or at least an electric vehicle with some autonomous functionality. Now, a third former employee has been accused of stealing some of that technology for a Chinese self-driving car company.

A federal court in the Northern District of California has unsealed charges against Weibao Wang, a former Apple software engineer. Wang started working at the company in 2016 as part of a team that developed hardware and software for autonomous systems — technology that could conceivably wind up in self-driving cars.

According to the indictment, in November 2017, Wang accepted a job with a US subsidiary of a Chinese company that was developing self-driving cars but waited more than four months to tell Apple that he was quitting. After Wang left Apple in April 2018, the company found that he "accessed large amounts of sensitive proprietary and confidential information" in the lead up to his departure, the Department of Justice said.

"Large quantities of data taken from Apple" were found during a law enforcement search of Wang's Mountain View residence that June. Wang told agents that he wasn't planning to travel, but he flew back to China that night, according to the indictment.

Wang has been charged with six counts of stealing or attempting to steal trade secrets. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a fine of $250,000 for each count. However, that depends on officials being able to extradite Wang, who remains in China, as CNBC reports.

This marks the third instance of a former Apple employee being accused of stealing autonomous trade secrets for Chinese entities. Xiaolang Zhang, who worked at Apple at the same time as Wang, pleaded guilty last year to stealing technology from Apple's car division. Zhang was apprehended at San Jose International Airport in 2018 while trying to board a flight to China.

In 2019, another former employee was arrested before they could flee to China. Jizhong Chen allegedly stole self-driving car tech for a Chinese company. Chen pleaded not guilty and the case is proceeding in federal court.

The US State Department has announced a reward of up to $10 million for information that leads to the arrest of a prolific hacker. On Monday, the Department of Justice filed criminal charges against Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, a Russian national and resident with links to the infamous Hive, LockBit and Babuk ransomware gangs. Starting as early as 2020, Matveev has allegedly targeted US law enforcement and healthcare organizations on multiple occasions.

In April 2021, for instance, he was linked to a Babuk ransomware attack that saw the computer systems of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington DC locked out. Last May, Matveev, whose online pseudonyms include Wazawaka, Uhodiransomwar, m1x, and Boriselcin, was allegedly involved in a Hive ransomware attack that targeted a healthcare NGO in New Jersey.

Separately, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against Matveev. "Matveev has been vocal about his illegal activities. He has provided insight into his cybercrimes in media interviews, disclosed exploit code to online criminals, and stated that his illicit activities will be tolerated by local authorities provided that he remains loyal to Russia," the Treasury said.

Of the ransomware gangs Matveev is allegedly affiliated with, LockBit is among the most active and destructive. As of late 2022, the group’s malware has infected the computer systems of at least 1,400 victims, including a Holiday Inn hotel in Turkey. According to the Justice Department, the gang’s affiliates have extracted at least $75 million in ransom payments. Security researchers recently found evidence that suggests that LockBit recently began targeting Mac computers.

Joseph James O'Connor has pleaded guilty to playing a role in various cybercrime activities, including the July 2020 hack that took over hundreds of high-profile Twitter accounts. O'Connor, who's known by the name PlugwalkJoe online, was originally from Liverpool, but he was extradited from Spain to the US in April. If you'll recall, the perpetrators of the 2020 Twitter hack hijacked accounts owned by popular personalities, including Bill Gates, Barack Obama and Elon Musk, and promoted crypto scams under their names. In 2021, Graham Ivan Clark, the supposed teenage mastermind behind the breach, pleaded guilty in return for a three-year prison sentence. 

According to the Justice Department, O'Connor communicated with his co-conspirators in that Twitter breach regarding purchasing unauthorized access to Twitter accounts. He allegedly purchased access to at least one Twitter account himself for $10,000. In addition, he was also apparently involved in the hack of a TikTok account with millions of followers, as well as a Snapchat account, via SIM swapping. In both cases, O'Connor and his co-conspirators stole sensitive personal information from the victims and then threatened to release them to the public. While the DOJ didn't identify victims in those cases, The Guardian says they were named in press reports as TikTok star Addison Rae and actor Bella Thorne.

From March 2019 until May 2019, O'Connor was also allegedly involved in the infiltration of a Manhattan-based crypto company to steal $794,000 worth of cryptocurrency. They used SIM swapping to target three of the company's executives and successfully pulled it off with one of them. Using the compromised executive's credentials, they were able to gain unauthorized access to the company's accounts and computer systems. They then laundered the stolen cryptocurrency by transferring them multiple times and using crypto exchanges. 

O'Connor has pleaded guilty to a lengthy list of charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, both of which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. He is now scheduled for sentencing on June 23rd. 

Nearly eight years after the start of Dieselgate, one of the highest-ranking executives implicated in the scandal is set to plead guilty. The New York Times reports former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler has agreed to accept a plea deal that will see him confess that he allowed Audi to continue selling diesel cars even after Volkswagen, the automaker’s parent company, admitted its vehicles had illegal software designed to cheat government emissions tests. Per The Times, a Munich state court said on Wednesday that Stadler would also pay a €1.1 million fine and serve a sentence of up to two years. The former executive is expected to make his confession in about two weeks.

Since the start of his trial in 2020, Stadler had maintained he was innocent of any wrongdoing. In court, Volkswagen has insisted that Dieselgate was the work of employees who hid the software they created from the company’s leadership. While at Audi, Stadler also served as a member of Volkswagen’s management board. Alongside Stadler, German prosecutors are set to convict two other former executives: Wolfgang Hatz and Zaccheo Giovanni Pamio. The former previously led engine development at Audi and Porsche, while the latter was involved in designing the software that allowed Volkswagen vehicles to cheat emissions tests.

In 2017, Volkswagen agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle fraud and other criminal and civil charges brought by the Department of Justice after the company admitted that nearly 600,000 diesel cars sold in the US were compromised by its “defeat device.” Those vehicles were programmed to detect when they were being tested on a set of rollers and would, as a result, produce fewer emissions than out on the road. According to court documents filed by German prosecutors, Audi engineers originally designed the software that Volkswagen would later deploy in its vehicles. Since Dieselgate came to light, the German automaker has agreed to pay more than $20 billion in fines and legal settlements.