- Alexander Gurevich, a dual Russian-Israeli citizen, has been arrested in Israel and extradited to the U.S. for his supposed involvement in the $190 million Nomad bridge hack.
- Gurevich admitted to exploiting Nomad’s system, returned part of the stolen money, and requested a $500,000 reward, and then ceased communication after a counteroffer.
key suspect in the notorious $190 million Nomad hack has been extradited to the United States by the Israeli authorities to face charges related to one of the largest crypto thefts in recent crypto history.
Alexander Gurevich, a dual citizen of Russia and Israel from Bat-Yam, is wanted in the United States for his ‘alleged’ role in the $190 million Nomad hack. Recently, he was caught by the Israeli authorities while he was trying to fly to Russia and will soon be sent to the U.S. to face charges. His arrest marks the first time a major suspect behind the Nomad hack was named.
On April 19, the suspect came back to Israel. Soon after, Justice Minister Yariv Levin signed papers asking him to go to the Jerusalem District Court for an extradition hearing. While waiting, Gurevich started trying to leave the country using a different name.
On April 29, it was reported that he changed his name in the Population Registry to “Alexander Block.” The next day, he got a passport with that name at the airport’s immigration office. On the 1st of May, when he returned to fly to Russia, officials say he was caught just before boarding. The next day, he was taken to court in handcuffs.
Details of the Nomad Hack
The hack happened on the 1st August, 2022. Days before the hack, Gurevich had returned to Israel, and on the day of his return, the U.S.-based crypto platform, Nomad, lost almost $190 million in a large hack.
Officials say Gurevich found a weakness in Nomad’s bridge, and through that means, he took about $2.89 million in crypto. Shortly after, other hackers saw the same flaw and quickly drained the wallet, bringing the total loss to around $186 million.
On August 4, while still in Israel, Gurevich messaged Nomad’s CTO, James Prestwich, on Telegram with a different name, saying he had been testing the system “amateurishly” and said sorry for the damage. Later, he repeated the apology in a phone call and added that he had sent $162,000 to a recovery wallet Nomad had made. However, he asked for $500,000 as a reward for finding the problem.
source: yoavetiel
Prestwich told him to write his request on Telegram so he could show it to the members of his team. The next day, Nomad offered to pay Guverich 10% of what he had taken; he, however, said he would talk to his lawyer, then stopped replying.
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