Sony Worker Accused of Embezzling $154 Million and Converting it into Bitcoin; Feds Trying to Get it Back

A Sony worker allegedly embezzled $154 million and converted it into bitcoin, and now federal agents are trying to figure out how to get it back.

It’s one thing this country is known for, it’s the art of finesse. Back in May, a man who works at a Sony subsidiary in Tokyo was accused of taking $154 million from the company, putting it in a personal account and then switching its form of currency over to bitcoin. According to a Monday press release from the U.S. Justice Department, the man has been identified as Rei Ishii.

Eventually, law enforcement in the U.S. and Japan were able to find the “private key” to the bitcoin address, which is where 3,879 tokens – now worth more than $180 million – were being held. U.S. law officials obtained the money on Dec. 1, Business Insider reports. Since then, the U.S. has filed a civil forfeiture complaint in an effort to protect the company’s interest over the stolen money.

“Criminals should take note: You cannot rely on cryptocurrency to hide your ill-gotten gains from law enforcement,” Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said in the statement, Business Insider reports. This is just one of the many cryptocurrency crimes the country has sought to lock down.