A former Singaporean Armed Forces official pleaded guilty to stealing $1.7 million worth of cryptocurrency, which was stored in the form of USDT on an unsuspecting victim’s wallet, as per a report by the Straits Times.
The victim—identity anonymous at the time of reporting—was a 30-year-old Chinese national who had kept his digital assets in a cold wallet, a Ledger Nano X.
The update comes as the U.K. Metropolitan police conclude a year-long investigation into a Bitcoin laundering scheme that saw hundreds of Chinese investors defrauded, with roughly $7 billion seized.
A cold wallet in crypto is unplugged from the internet as opposed to a hot wallet that is live, connected, and used for trading purposes.
Teo Rong Xuan reportedly has used the funds for buying luxury watches and to settle his mortgage payments and gambling expenses.
As per the court hearing, the victim bought the cold wallet, registered it on a mobile application, and got a seed phrase that comprised 24 English words, attached with serial numbers.
The victim then wrote the seed phrase on a piece of paper, which he kept at home. The ex-army official then entered the victim’s home using a key card he borrowed from him, and used the seed phrases to transfer the USDT to his own wallet.