$10M Microsoft Theft: By A Former Microsoft Employee #shorts

15 Mar 2023 · 1 min

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The Art of Crypto narrates the case of Volodymyr Kavashchuk, a Ukrainian former Microsoft software tester who exploited his access to the company's online retail sales platform between 2016 and 2018. By creating fake accounts, he siphoned off stored-value assets such as gift cards, resold them for Bitcoin, and moved the proceeds into his personal bank account and crypto wallets. The scheme unraveled when Kavashchuk used the stolen wealth to purchase a $1.6 million lakefront home and a $160 000 Tesla, drawing law‑enforcement attention. He was arrested, sentenced to nine years in prison, and ordered to repay over $8.3 million in restitution. The narrator closes with a cautionary note against conspicuous spending of illicit gains.

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This is the story of how a former Microsoft software engineer was able to steal $10 million in crypto from Microsoft. In 2020, Ukrainian national— now I'm going to butcher this name— but Volodymyr Kavashchuk, who was responsible for testing the company's online retail sales platform, used his access to steal currency stored value such as gift cards, which he then resold on the internet for Bitcoin. The scheme lasted from 2016 to 2018. It involved the use of many fake accounts and the transfer funds to Volodymyr's own bank account and cryptocurrency wallets. But he was eventually caught after using the stolen funds to buy a $1.6 million lakefront home and a $160,000 Tesla. Volodymyr was sentenced to 9 years in prison and ordered to pay over $8.3 million in restitution. And while I don't condone theft, at least don't buy big houses and Teslas using money you don't have, and you'll probably be Gucci.