Bangalore: Suspected hacker Sri Krishna used his skills to break into bitcoin exchanges and online gambling sites to fund lavish lifestyle, indictment submitted by Bengaluru City Police says to a local court. Krishna, 26, was first apprehended in drug trafficking in November last year after police said he was sourcing drugs through the black network.

Also known as Srikki, he operated primarily in Bengaluru, the technology hub of India, and also in Goa, according to the indictment, which said he was operating in concert with a group of associates, using their knowledge of technology to earn vast sums of money for themselves. .

He told the Central Crime Branch (CCB) last year that he even hacked the Twitter accounts of world leaders, in addition to compromising crypto platforms. This led to the police registering a First Information Report (FIR) related to its crypto hack and its experts in the field of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the e-governance department of the state government. for investigation.

“Only some of his claims led to definitive leads and evidence. He was a master hacker who used his in-depth knowledge and expertise for illegal purposes and quickly made money,” said an officer. police, who was part of the CCB investigation team.

According to the indictment, a co-accused of the Bitcoin scam once spent Rs 11.80 lakh to provide Krishna with a private jet for his trip.

He hacked into crypto exchanges, including Unocoin, and used both master and private keys of account holders to gain control over bitcoins, the indictment said. He then transferred them to his own account before passing them on to a friend and co-accused Robin Khandelwal, in exchange for money. He and his accomplices – Khandelwal, Sunil Hegde, Prasidh Shetty and Sujay Raj – used a network of crypto and bank accounts to similarly transfer bitcoins and convert them into cash, according to the indictment.

Unocoin, the Indian bitcoin platform that also set up the first bitcoin ATM in Bengaluru three years ago, has since tightened its security, according to a source from the investigative team. Unocoin did not respond to queries.

Helped partners win big

Krishna would only stay in luxury hotels and resorts, leading a lavish lifestyle, the indictment said. A police officer said he also spent time on luxury cruise ships.

According to the indictment, he also hacked online gaming sites including PokerDangal, PokerBaazi, GGpoker, PPpoker, SwC Poker, BitStarz and Spartan Poker. Hegde, Shetty and Raj made big money on these sites using information stolen by Krishna, he said.

Krishna hacked online gaming site PokerBaazi and stole data, then collected a ransom of Rs 50 lakh from its promoters, before restoring the platform, according to the indictment.

Bengaluru Police also charged him and others under Sections 66 and 66 (c) of the Information Technology Act 2000, which deal with fraudulent access to computer networks, destruction of data, digital identity theft, fraudulent electronic signature and theft of the unique identifier of others. .