Biography of Veer Chetal: The Teenage Cryptocurrency Scammer
Veer Chetal, 19, of Danbury, Connecticut, aka “Wiz,” was re-arrested for violating his bail agreement. He pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, money laundering, and using cryptocurrency to commit crimes, including the theft of $245 million worth of Bitcoin from a Genesis creditor in August of that year.
Chetal's legal background began in November 2024, when he agreed to plead guilty and promise to testify against his co-defendants in order to be released on bail. However, his plotting did not stop, showing his disregard for the law.
Chetal's next illegal shooting while on bail
Details of Chetal’s crimes became public last week after a federal judge in Washington ordered the records unsealed. The man who had been free on bail reoffended in late January 2025 after authorities discovered he was involved in 50 additional burglaries that netted more than $3 million between November 2023 and September 2024.
One notable example is the $2 million social media scam on October 21, 2024, when Chetal impersonated a Gemini support staff member to trick a New Jersey resident, then collected her cryptocurrency wallet seed phrase.
Through blockchain tracking, investigators determined that the stolen funds were transferred to an online betting account and the eXch exchange, which does not require identity verification (KYC), typically for criminal activities.
Chetal's crime might have been successful if not for the VPN he used to access the account containing $200,000 of the stolen funds, which leaked its IP address during a security test.
According to the investigation, “In one out of six cases, after opening an account and receiving funds, the account's VPN failed within 40 minutes, revealing the real IP.”
The IP matches Chetal's mother, and T-Mobile phone records confirm he was at the scene. However, Wiz only had the money for a short time before he was recaptured.
“Chetal admitted that, despite negotiations with the government, he still made a profit of $200,000 using simple text messages, then placed a bet that failed and lost the entire amount in just nine minutes,” Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in a memo.
Chetal is currently considered a high flight risk, especially because he does not have U.S. citizenship and intends to travel abroad. His plea agreement says he has scheduled college entrance exams in India and is looking for a university in Dubai after his guilty plea.
Chetal's criminal activities almost brought serious consequences to his family.
Just after the $245 million Bitcoin heist, the group of six attempted to kidnap Chetal’s parents. However, Danbury police intervened, arresting the perpetrators and freeing Wiz’s bound and injured parents.
Chetal's father reportedly suffered serious injuries to his face and hands and lost his job at Morgan Stanley as a result of the incident.
Police identified James Schwab, 22, of Georgia, as the man behind the plot. Although he was not physically present at the scene, he directed the plot remotely, provided funding, and arranged transportation for his accomplices.
According to the Justice Department statement, Schwab had an altercation with the victim's child at a Miami nightclub in July 2024. He also maintained regular contact with the kidnappers, providing material support and arranging accommodation and transportation for the group of criminals.
Schwab has pleaded not guilty, while five of the six kidnappers have pleaded guilty, according to a Justice Department statement.
Among them, Anthony Pena was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit kidnapping. The remaining subjects will appear in court in the coming time, of which Reynaldo Diaz has not yet had a final verdict.
Source: https://tintucbitcoin.com/chetal-doi-mat-cao-buoc-vu-sua-dao-245musd/
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