James Zhong stole 50,000 Bitcoins and chose to hide them in a unique location: a la of a Cheetos product. He has already been sentenced to a prison term of one year and one day.
A man, by the name of James Zhong, stole 50,000 Bitcoins and decided to stash them in a peculiar location: a Cheetos brand popcorn can. The authorities discovered it and the guy was already sentenced to spend a year and a day in prison.
At the time Bitcoin was recovered, it was valued at $3.4 billion. As of today, they are worth more than $1.5 billion, according to the Department of Justice.
Zhong, who is currently 32 years old, stole the 50,000 Bitcoin from an internet site called Silk Road. The website sold all kinds of drugs and other illegal items.
The founder of Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, was already sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for drug trafficking, hacking, among other things.
Zhong stole Bitcoins by tricking Silk Road’s administrators into depositing the digital coins into different accounts Zhong had set up. Zhong led them to believe he was selling things on the website, but in reality he never did, the Justice Department reported.
“In 2012, James Zhong committed wire fraud by stealing 50,000 Bitcoin from Silk Road, and for the next 10 years he managed to hide what he had done and how he made his fortune,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, according to Business Insider.
Authorities were able to track Zhong down and obtained a warrant to enter his home, which is in Gainesville, Georgia.
When they searched the place they found the 50,000 Bitcoins on a computer board, which was inside a Cheetos popcorn can.
Also found in the home were more than $660,000 in cash, silver and gold bullion.