Dubai Court Sentences Woman to Jail and $1M Fine for Crypto Wallet Theft
A Dubai court has sentenced a woman to two months in prison and a $1 million penalty for stealing cryptocurrency through a hardware wallet swap. Court documents reveal she discreetly replaced a wallet containing private keys with an identical device during a meeting, enabling the unauthorized transfer of digital assets.
The scheme unfolded after a purported investor introduced the victim to a man claiming to represent an investment firm. During negotiations, the victim was asked to demonstrate proof of funds in cryptocurrency. At the verification meeting in Dubai—where the man sent his wife as a proxy—the swap occurred unnoticed.