Following the theft of $250,000 BTC, a former Cryptopia employee called Michael Glaser was sentenced to nine months of home detention.
Michael Glaser was the software interface manager of Cryptopia, and he had access to the private keys of several crypto wallets.
Glaser admits to his doings
Glaser’s interim name suppression ended this afternoon, and he claims that throughout his time at the corporation, he expressed concerns about the company’s various wallets.
He was in a position of trust, with lawful access to the wallet keys, the Christchurch District Court heard on Friday.
Between January 16 and May 14, 2019, Glaser transferred the private keys to a USB storage device. He then brought it home and installed it on his computer.
After gaining access to private keys, he was able to access tens of thousands of digital wallets and more than NZ$100 million in cryptocurrency. Despite this, Judge Gerard Lynch stated that there is no proof that he had access to the wallets.
In September 2020, a former Cryptopia client emailed a Grant Thornton liquidator, claiming they had inadvertently transferred Bitcoin into an old Cryptopia wallet and requested that their cash be reimbursed.
Wallets were examined, and it was discovered that some Bitcoin worth $235,000 had been illegally moved in August 2020.
Glaser admitted to stealing the Bitcoin and $10,000 worth of Litecoin in a letter to the liquidator the following week.
The judge highlighted how vital it was that he refund the whole $246,000 amount.
According to the court, Glazer conducted the offense on his own, without the assistance or knowledge of anybody else from Cryptopia or outside.
Glaser wished to remain anonymous
Because of internet death threats and his family’s problems, Glaser sought to keep his name hidden.
Allister Davis cautioned Judge Lynch in his evidence that identifying him would be like “throwing him to the wolves.”
This was an “exceptional instance,” according to the lawyer, and it would be difficult for some investors to separate Glaser’s theft from the more significant attack, even though the two were linked.
Davis has stated that he was not involved, and neither the police nor the Crown has suggested that he was.
According to Davis, Glaser, a self-employed software developer with no past convictions, has been investigated “with a fine-tooth comb” since then.
In the end, Glaser was sentenced to nine months of house detention. The right to not possess or use alcohol or non-prescribed medications is one of the unique conditions.
He was also charged $21,225 in compensation to meet the liquidators’ fees.