Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced on Monday the arrest of a man who was allegedly behind fake Bitcoin ETF approval messages sent in January from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s account.
Eric Council Jr. was arrested in Alabama by the FBI. In a press release, the FBI charged him with identity theft conspiracy and fraud involving access devices.
“The indictment alleges that Eric Council, Jr. unlawfully accessed the SEC’s account on X by using the stolen identity of a person who had access to the account to take over their cellphone number,” Nicole Argentieri, principal deputy assistant attorney general.
Council is accused of conspiring with others to post tweets and create the SEC account.
“Council, Jr.’s co-conspirators then allegedly used this unauthorized access to the X account to falsely announce that the SEC had approved listing Bitcoin ETFs, which caused the price of Bitcoin to rise by $1,000 and then fall by $2,000. Council’s indictment underscores the Criminal Division’s commitment to countering cybercrime, especially when it threatens the integrity of financial markets,” Argentieri said.
Just days before SEC officially approved the bitcoin spot products, the posts were published announcing that the ETFs had been approved, even though the Commission hadn’t approved them.
Posts triggered an increase in Bitcoin’s value.
Council used a newly purchased phone, which had a SIM card swapped in it, to log into the SEC X account.
“Council received BTC payment for performing the successful SIM swap. Shortly after, Council drove to Birmingham, Alabama to return the iPhone used in the SIM swap for cash,” FBI said
Council will appear before an Alabama court on Thursday.
“The SEC thanks law enforcement for their vigilance in seeking accountability for those responsible for the breach of the SEC’s X account,” A spokesperson from the SEC spoke to Blockworks.
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