DOJ Seeks to Return $154M in Stolen Funds to Sony
A Sony Life Insurance employee stole more than $154 million from the Sony Group subsidiary in May and converted the funds to bitcoins worth more than $180 million, alleged DOJ in a “civil forfeiture” complaint Monday in U.S. District Court…
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in San Diego to “protect and ultimately return” the seized money to Sony. The employee, Rei Ishii, diverted the funds to a private account at a bank in La Jolla, California, by falsifying transaction instructions, said DOJ. Ishii was criminally charged in Japan, and all the bitcoins “traceable to the theft have been recovered and fully preserved,” it said. "We would like to express our gratitude to the U.S. and Japanese authorities, for the stolen funds being located, and recovery procedures are progressing,” emailed a Sony spokesperson Tuesday. Attempts to reach Ishii’s lawyers in Japan for comment were unsuccessful.