U.S. files action to return $150 Million in alleged embezzled funds to Sony

WASHINGTON – The United States filed a civil forfeiture complaint on Monday to

return

more than $154

million

in

funds

that were

alleged

ly stolen from a s

ubs

idiary of Tokyo-based

Sony

Corp and then seized by law enforcement during the FBI’s investigation of the theft, the

U.S

. Justice Department said.

Rei Ishii, an employee of

Sony

Life Insurance Company Ltd in Tokyo,

alleged

ly

embezzled

the property in May and converted it to more than 3,879 Bitcoins valued today at more than $180

million

, the department said in a statement.

Those

funds

were seized by law enforcement on Dec. 1, based on the FBI investigation, it said.

Ishii

alleged

ly falsified trans

action

instructions, causing the

funds

to be transferred to an account he controlled at a bank in La Jolla, California, and converted them to Bitcoin, according to the complaint filed in federal court in the Southern District of California.

“All the Bitcoins traceable to the theft have been recovered and fully preserved. Ishii has been criminally charged in Japan,” the Justice Department said. –

Reuters