On February 3, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that a federal court in New York had unsealed a five-count criminal indictment against 22-year-old Canadian Andean Medjedovic for allegedly stealing about $65 million from investors by taking advantage of flaws in two decentralized finance (defi) protocols, Kyberswap and Indexed Finance.
According to court documents, Medjedovic manipulated smart contracts used in these defi platforms between 2021 and 2023, using deceptive trading tactics that tricked the protocols into falsely calculating key financial variables. As a result, he withdrew substantial sums at artificially generated prices, causing significant financial losses for investors. Additionally, prosecutors stated that he laundered the stolen funds through a network of transactions involving digital asset swaps, “bridging transactions,” and cryptocurrency “mixers” to obscure the origins and true ownership of the funds.
Federal authorities underlined their dedication to bringing financial crime cases with new technology, as stated by U.S. Attorney John J. Durham:
After carrying out the Kyberswap exploit in November 2023, authorities further allege that Medjedovic tried to blackmail investors and developers of the protocol by presenting a phony settlement offer. In return for only half of the stolen digital assets, he allegedly sought complete control over the Kyberswap platform and its governing decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
In addition to attempted Hobbs Act extortion, Medjedovic is charged in the indictment with wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and unauthorized damage to a protected computer. He could be sentenced up to 10 years in prison for the computer damage accusation and 20 years in prison for each of the other four offenses if found guilty.
Additionally, the case garnered a great deal of foreign support, particularly from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Public Prosecution Service and Cybercrime Unit of the Netherlands. Authorities are still trying to capture Medjedovic, who still remains at large.
