U.S. prosecutors have charged a Canadian national with coordinating large cyberattacks on two decentralized finance (DeFi) services, KyberSwap and Indexed Finance. Authorities allege the defendant, Andean Medjedovic, stole around $65 million by exploiting smart contract weaknesses before laundering the profits through numerous crypto transactions.
The DOJ unveiled the indictment in a Brooklyn federal court, charging Medjedovic with wire fraud, hacking, money laundering, and attempted extortion. Prosecutors claim that in October 2021, he manipulated liquidity pools at Indexed Finance to steal $16.5 million. Two years later, in November 2023, he allegedly used similar tactics to siphon $48.8 million from KyberSwap.
Investigators said Medjedovic borrowed large sums of digital tokens to carry out deceptive trades, causing smart contracts to miscalculate important values. This allowed him to withdraw investor monies at artificially low prices, leaving victims with worthless assets.
In addition to the theft, KyberSwap accuses Medjedovic of attempting to extort them by proposing a fraudulent settlement. He allegedly threatened to prolong negotiations over fund recovery unless he was granted control of the platform in exchange for returning half of the stolen assets.
Prosecutors further claim he conspired with a relative to obscure the stolen funds’ origins. He reportedly utilized crypto mixers, blockchain bridges, and fraudulent exchange accounts to convert digital assets into cash. In an undercover sting operation, Medjedovic allegedly paid $85,000 to an agent posing as a developer to unfreeze seized funds.
Currently, Medjedovic remains a fugitive. If convicted, he faces significant prison time, with potential sentences reaching up to 20 years per charge. Law enforcement agencies continue efforts to locate him as they intensify the crackdown on DeFi-related cybercrime.
