A Nebraska resident faces the possibility of a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in a significant cryptojacking operation. Charles O. Parks III, also known as “CP3O,” has been indicted for defrauding two leading cloud service providers, as revealed in an April 15 announcement from the United States Attorney’s office in Brooklyn.
Cryptojacking refers to a cyberattack where perpetrators illicitly seize control of a victim’s system to mine cryptocurrencies, exploiting its resources such as processing power and electricity. These attacks often go unnoticed by victims until substantial damage has been done.
Parks stands accused of pilfering $3.5 million worth of computational resources from the service providers, which he then utilized to mine cryptocurrencies valued at $970,000. The charges against him include wire fraud, money laundering, and engaging in illicit monetary transactions associated with the scheme.
The defendant was arrested on April 13, 2024, and the case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Park is scheduled to appear before the federal court in Omaha on April 16.
This illicit scheme, perpetrated from January 2021 to August 2021, saw Parks create multiple accounts with cloud service providers under various fictitious business names. He then leveraged these accounts to access substantial computing power and storage space without payment.
Park also allegedly deceived the providers into granting him elevated access privileges. Utilizing these resources, he mined several cryptocurrencies, including Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Monero (XMR), while evading inquiries about suspicious data usage and delaying payment of bills.
Prosecutors contend that Park laundered the proceeds through multiple cryptocurrency exchanges, an NFT marketplace, and conventional bank accounts. Furthermore, he structured transactions to evade federal reporting requirements.
The illicit gains were used for personal luxuries, including the purchase of a Mercedes Benz, jewelry, and extravagant travel expenses. If convicted, Park could face a maximum of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and 10 years for illegal transaction charges.