Leading developer of the anonymous cryptocurrency Monero (XMR) Ricardo Spagni was arrested in the US at the request of the South African authorities.
August 3, 2021, | AtoZ Markets – Former lead developer of Monero cryptocurrency Riccardo Spagni was arrested in the US last month on fraud charges related to the events of 2009-2011.
South African authorities demand Riccardo Spagni extradition
Spagni was detained in Nashville while attempting to fly to Mexico in a private jet during a scheduled refueling order issued on July 20. The South African authorities have turned to the American law enforcement authorities, seeking the extradition of the developer. The charges are not related to Monero and relate to his work as an information technology manager at Cape Cookies.
“As an employee of Cape Cookies, Spagni intercepted the accounts of another company, Ensync, related to information technology goods and services that it provided Cape Cookies. Spagni deliberately used false information to fabricate similar accounts that were supposed to come from Ensync. Spagni then inflated the prices of goods and/or services."
The investigation found that, instead of the Ensync bank account number, Spagni indicated his own, and the real Ensync accounts for smaller amounts had already been paid by Cape Cookies by that time.
US Attorney Mary Jane Stewart is asking the court to deny Spagni bail pending a decision regarding his extradition. According to the prosecution, the developer may flee and is motivated to do so. He is believed to own "substantial cryptoassets" as well as an $800,000 yacht.
The measure of restraint for Spagni will be elected on 5 August. On the charges, he faces up to 20 years in prison. He has been involved in the life of the cryptocurrency space since at least 2011 and retired as the lead developer of Monero in December 2019. Spagni has not posted new messages on Twitter since his arrest on July 20.
Did Riccardo Spagni arrest put Monero price under pressure?
Monero (XMR) price has lost 3% in the last 24 hours. At the time of writing, the XMR/USD is trading at $232. However, the decline in the value of the cryptocurrency is unlikely to be related to the news about the arrest of the developer.
Read also: Beginner’s Guide to Mining Monero Coin in 2021
The XMR dynamics are in line with the general trend in the cryptocurrency market.
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