U.S. Department of Justice: Recovered $680,000 in Crypto Assets from the Vulnerability, Funds Being Returned to Victims

Gate News bot message, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has recovered $680,000 related to the Crypto Assets vulnerability and is in the process of returning funds stolen through the Safemoon smart contracts vulnerability.

On June 12, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had seized a crypto assets and blockchain company affected by a smart contracts manipulation scheme and is returning over $680,000 in stolen crypto assets to the company. The case revolves around a vulnerability in the Safemoon liquidity pool mechanism, which was exploited in March 2023 in an attempt to artificially inflate the token price.

Due to the lack of criminal charges, the U.S. government has taken civil asset forfeiture measures to recover a significant portion of the misappropriated funds. The U.S. Department of Justice has confirmed that the U.S. has recovered and cleared ownership of stolen Crypto Assets worth over $680,000 through civil asset forfeiture, and is in the process of returning these funds to the victims.

The U.S. Department of Justice explained that this theft attempt stemmed from a programming flaw in the Safemoon smart contracts, which allowed for the destruction of tokens, thereby distorting market value. An independent trading bot intercepted this operation and transferred the proceeds to its operator, who then contacted Safemoon and negotiated to retain 20% of the funds. The FBI subsequently intervened.

The U.S. Department of Justice detailed that on May 15, 2023, the FBI seized $680,467.92 and 480,996 BNB from accounts on the crypto assets exchange OKX, which is about half of the Safemoon ransom amount.

The U.S. Department of Justice clarified: "Safemoon has filed for bankruptcy, but funds will be returned to Safemoon's bankruptcy trustee."

The initial attackers and bot operators have yet to be found or charged, prompting authorities to initiate civil proceedings to recover these assets. The forfeiture process allows any interested party to contest the claims before a federal judge.

Source: Bitcoin.com News