Last July we reported on a former Microsoft engineer who was facing legal action over the theft of $10 million in digital currency from the tech giant. This week, Volodymyr Kvashuk was convicted of the crime. The conviction came after a five-day trial in the Seattle US District Court.
Kvashuk was found guilty of 18 federal felonies following five hours of deliberation by the jury. He is now facing up to 20 years in prisons on convictions including six counts of money laundering, five counts of wire fraud, two counts of filing computer in furtherance of fraud, and two counts of aggravated theft.
Twenty-five-year-old Volodymyr Kvashuk was found guilty of stealing digital currency and resold it to receive $2.8 million. He intended to use the money to buy a $1.7 million home and eventually planned to steal a total of $10 million.
Microsoft discovered the situation and fired Kvashuk in June 2018 followed by a year of investigation. Kvashuk insists he “did not intend to defraud Microsoft”. However, he used the stolen money to purchase a $160,000 Tesla and a $1.6 million home.
Microsoft Store Fraud Scheme
During the scheme, Kvashuk would use a Microsoft Store account that was meant for testing to gain access to Microsoft’s online sales. He would then be able to simulate customers buying items on the store but without any items ever shipping.
Microsoft would believe the products had been sold but they were really going to Kvashuk, who would sell them himself. He would then use his software engineering skills to mask the movements.
During his defense, the Ukrainian software engineer says he was “working on a special project to benefit the company”.
