Accused Twitter Hack Mastermind Owns $3 Million in Bitcoin

The 17-year-old accused of orchestrating the Twitter hack earlier this month that hijacked the accounts of the world’s rich and powerful is a Bitcoin multimillionaire, according to his lawyer. A judge set Graham Clark’s bail at $725,000 Saturday as he awaits trial on 30 criminal counts for the July 15 incursion. The teenager is charged with stealing $117,000 in Bitcoin by soliciting it via accounts belonging to Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian West, and other notable figures, which he had taken control of by hiring deputy hackers and duping Twitter employees. Clark already owns $3 million worth of the cryptocurrency, his lawyer said, and he’ll only have to pay $72,500 to go free until his trial.

Prosecutors argued the defendant should prove he earned the money through legal means. “Based upon the conduct of this defendant, I believe it’s appropriate to assume that every single penny that this defendant has access to is by ill-gotten gains,” a prosecutor said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “And we’re talking about millions of dollars.” His lawyer argued against providing proof, citing a federal investigation in which agents seized some of Clark’s Bitcoins and then returned them, finding no illegal activity. One condition of his bail, though: he can’t access the internet.

Via Daily Beast