19-Year-Old Crypto Prodigy Behind $245M Genesis Scandal Snared Again—This Time for $2M Heist
Just when you thought crypto couldn't get more wild west—the teenage architect of the $245 million Genesis scam is back in cuffs. This time? A cool $2 million vanished into the digital void.
From Ponzi prince to repeat offender
The same kid who orchestrated one of DeFi's most brazen rug pulls apparently didn't learn his lesson. Authorities nabbed him mid-spree, proving even 'genius' criminals get greedy.
Why this matters for crypto
While VCs pour champagne over 'institutional adoption,' stories like this remind us the space still runs on audacity and adrenaline. The $2 million theft? Chump change compared to his last score—but enough to show the 'trustless' ecosystem still trusts too much.
Bottom line: The blockchain doesn't forget. Neither do federal agents.
Chetal stole again while he was released on bond
Details of Chetal’s legal proceedings were revealed to the public last week, when a federal district judge in Washington ordered the documents unsealed.
As earlier stated, he was released on bond. However, he was re-arrested in late January 2025 after federal authorities found out Chetal was involved in additional crimes, including 50 similar thefts that raked in another $3 million between November 2023 and September 2024.
Among his additional crimes is a $2 million social engineering theft that involved Chetal while he was released on October 21, 2024. The crime targeted a New Jersey resident, convincing her that she was speaking to a Gemini exchange support member before getting her to turn over the seed phrase to her crypto wallet.
Blockchain tracing traced the funds to an online gambling account and to the exchange eXch, a non-KYC exchange preferred by illicit actors.
Chetal may have gotten away with the act if the VPN he allegedly used to access the account, where $200,000 worth of the stolen funds wound up, had not failed briefly.
According to investigators, “on one of the six occasions, within 40 minutes of account opening and 30 minutes of receiving the stolen funds, the account VPN network ‘failed’ and the true IP address leaked.”
The IP was traced to Chetal’s mother, and phone records acquired from T-Mobile put him at the scene. However, Wiz didn’t hold on to the funds for long.
“Chetal admits that, even after he began negotiating with the Government, he secured $200,000 in illicit funds with a simple text message,” U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who denied Chetal’s request to be re-released on bond, wrote. “That sum was so trivial to Chetal that he gambled and lost all $200,000 on a single bet nine minutes later.”
As it stands, Chetal is deemed a flight risk, especially given his lack of U.S. citizenship and his desire to travel abroad. Defense filings show he booked an Indian university entrance exam and inquired about colleges in Dubai after he had pled guilty.
How Chetal’s activities almost cost him his parents
Shortly after the original $245 million theft, a group of six men targeted Chetal’s parents in a kidnapping attempt. However, they were thwarted by Danbury police officers, who arrested the suspects and rescued Wiz’s parents, who were bound and injured.
1/ An investigation into how Greavys (Malone Iam), Wiz (Veer Chetal), and Box (Jeandiel Serrano) stole $243M from a single person last month in a highly sophisticated social engineering attack and my efforts which have helped lead to multiple arrests and millions frozen. pic.twitter.com/dcY1e9xsPd
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) September 19, 2024
Chetal’s father reportedly came away from the ordeal with severe facial and arm injuries, and he reportedly lost his job at Morgan Stanley in the wake of the incident.
The man behind the plot has been identified as James Schwab, 22, of Georgia, and while he was not present at the scene, it has been confirmed that he orchestrated the plot from afar.
“Schwab, who had an altercation with the victims’ son in a Miami nightclub in July 2024, was in regular communication with certain of the kidnappers in the days before the crime, provided funding for it, and helped arrange the participants’ transportation and lodging,” a DoJ press release said.
Schwab pleaded not guilty, but five of the six kidnappers he hired have pleaded guilty, according to the press release.
One of the kidnapping suspects, Anthony Pena, has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy and kidnapping charges. The four other suspects who pleaded guilty are yet to be sentenced, while the only one holding out, Reynaldo Diaz, will appear in court for a trial in late September.
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