Dubai hands woman two months jail time, $1M penalty over crypto wallet theft

A Dubai court has sentenced a woman to two months in jail with an additional fine payment after she was found guilty of a crypto wallet scam. According to news sources, the woman secretly swapped a cryptocurrency wallet during a business meeting in Dubai, defrauding an investor of digital assets worth about $1 million.

Court records revealed that the woman carried out the act discreetly while the meeting was ongoing in order not to arouse suspicion. It claimed that she secretly replaced a hardware wallet containing private key information with another identical device that she had prepared before attending the meeting.

The crypto wallet swap enabled the digital assets contained in the wallet to be transferred to another wallet without the knowledge of the owner.

Dubai court jails woman for crypto wallet theft

According to reports, the incident occurred after the victim was introduced to a man who claimed to own an investment company and expressed interest in financing a business project.

After protracted investment discussions, the man asked the investor to show proof of financial capability before finalizing agreements. This meant that the man asked the investor to demonstrate if he had the needed funds to complete the business project, noting that the investor had to show a substantial amount in crypto.

A verification meeting was agreed to by both parties, and it was arranged in Dubai to complete the process. The man failed to attend the meeting, noting that something urgent came up at the last minute.

However, he assured the investor that his wife would attend the meeting and oversee everything he needed to on his behalf. According to investigators, the woman attended the meeting in Dubai, and while handling the verification procedure, swapped the genuine wallet and replaced it with a similar-looking device.

The investor discovered later that his digital assets had been transferred to another party and reported it to the police. The authorities kick-started their criminal investigation and referred the case to the Dubai Misdemeanours and Infractions Court after its finalization.

The court convicted the woman of theft and sentenced her to two months in prison. In addition, she was also asked to pay a fine worth the value of the stolen assets at the time of the offense. Finally, the court also ordered her deportation from the UAE.

The court orders $1 million in compensation to the victim

The woman took the case to the Dubai Court of Appeals, which upheld the initial criminal ruling. Following the criminal judgment, the investor filed a civil lawsuit seeking compensation for financial losses and profits lost to the theft. He argued that the value of the stolen digital asset had increased after the woman stole his assets.

The civil court ruled in his favor and ordered the defendant to pay Dh. 4.3 million ($1,170,768) in compensation. In addition, she was ordered to pay 5% annual legal interest until a full repayment is made.

The court mentioned that digital assets are recognized as financial properties under the law and are protected. The woman’s husband, who was identified as a key participant in the scheme, has since absconded and remains at large.

The case highlights growing legal recognition of digital assets in the UAE, as well as the serious consequences of fraud involving digital assets. Meanwhile, analysts have called on crypto holders to store their digital assets using the best techniques.

The call came after Chainalysis released a report mentioning that the UAE was responsible for the highest crypto loss per person. The report mentioned that each victim of crypto theft in the UAE has lost approximately Dh. 293, 600 ($80,00).

In addition, they also advised traders to strengthen their passwords, implement two-factor authentication, and be wary of phishing scams. The report mentioned that victims in the US came second, followed by victims in Chile, India, Lithuania, Japan, Israel, Norway, and Germany.

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