Oklahoma Duo Arrested for $14 Million Cryptocurrency Theft
Oklahoma police have arrested two men who reportedly stole millions of dollars from a California-based cryptocurrency company, local media reported. Fletcher Robert Childers, 23, and Joseph Harris, 21, of Missouri, were arrested on suspicion of grand theft, a first-degree felony, and identity theft, a Class C misdemeanor. If charged for both, the duo could receive up to 35 years of prison time, according to Oklahoma state laws. Court documents filed by Crowd Machine, a San Jose-based decentralized IT company, named Childers and Harris for their alleged involvement in a $14 million theft. The report accused the twosome of swapping the victim’s mobile sim card with a fake to steal his identity and phone number. That allowed Childers and Harris to compromise a cryptocurrency wallet registered with the stolen sim and lift $14 million worth of CMCT tokens. An investigator with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office and members of the state’s Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) worked with the local Oklahoma police in tracing the phone used in the hack. It was later tracked to a hotel, where the subsequent arrests were made. The confiscated phone, according to the court documents, was purchased by two white males from a nearby Walmart. The report cited video footages to back its claim that those two men were Childers and Harris. The car used by both the males in the video footage also belonged to Childers, another surveillance video at a local store proved. The same car was parked at the hotel they both were staying.
