Nebraska man indicted for stealing $1 million worth of cryptocurrency through ‘cryptojacking’

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Charles O. Parks III, 45, is suspected of stealing $3.5 million worth of cloud computing services to mine $1 million worth of cryptocurrency through a so-called "cryptojacking" scheme. Cryptojacking involves using the computing power of others to mine cryptocurrency for yourself. According to the official government release, Parks is suspected of defrauding two "well-known" cloud computing providers, committing wire fraud, money laundering, and illegal currency transactions. Parks will make his first appearance in federal court on April 16, and he was initially arrested in Nebraska on April 13. According to the government's statement, Parks allegedly used numerous aliases such as "MultiMillionaire LLC" and "CP3O LLC" to register for "large amounts" of computing processing power without paying for it. He also allegedly inflated cloud computing service levels, delayed billing arrangements, and dodged questions from cloud computing companies when they asked about large amounts of data usage and unpaid subscription fees. The government's release also added that Parks moved and laundered money through avenues such as cryptocurrency exchanges and NFT marketplaces to "cover audit trails and disassociate himself from the fraud."