protos.com
An alleged SIM-swap hacker accused of stealing $400 million in crypto from collapsed exchange FTX has reportedly requested a temporary release from home detention on the grounds that he would like to attend his girlfriend’s sister’s birthday party at an Illinois branch of Chuck E. Cheese.
Robert Powell, aka ‘ElSwapo1’ was arrested alongside two alleged accomplices back in February and subsequently granted home release on a $10,000 bond.
Other conditions of his release included that he avoid non-essential internet use and any online gambling and that he must remain at home other than to go to court or medical appointments.
However, in a request to the court, Powell’s lawyers have requested that it “modify his conditions of release” and allow him to attend his girlfriend’s sister’s birthday party on Sunday, November 10 between the hours of 2 pm and 6 pm at an Arlington Heights Chuck E. Cheese.
According to the request, “Mr. Powell has been in full compliance with all his release conditions,” and, “All other release conditions shall remain in effect.”
It also states that “Pretrial and the government are not objecting to this request.”
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Dates of $400M heist matched FTX loss
Powell, along with Carter Rohn and Emily Hernandez, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud after they allegedly traveled to cellphone stores in more than 15 states.
The trio, known as the ‘Powell SIM Swapping Crew’ were arrested after $400 million worth of crypto was siphoned from the (then) world’s biggest crypto exchange on the day that it declared bankruptcy in November 2022.
There was initially some debate about who exactly the gang’s victim was and the initial indictment referred to ‘Victim Company-1.’ However, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic subsequently clarified in a blog post that, “We’re not aware of any other thefts of this magnitude on these dates.”
“It therefore seems likely that ‘Victim Company 1’ is FTX,” it added.