The former director of technology of Blockparty was arrested on Wednesday after US prosecutors accused him of stealing more than $1 million in cash and cryptocurrencies gives companywhich operates a market of tokens not fungible.
Rikesh Thapa, 28, of San Diego, Calif., co-founded the company in 2017 and left in 2019 after refusing to return a million dollars in company funds that he agreed to keep in his bank account while Blockparty looked for another bank, prosecutors said.
Thapa, who was arrested in Southern California, faces a wire fraud charge.
A Blockparty representative declined to comment on the matter.
Prosecutors allege in the indictment that Thapa took $1 million from the company to “guard” as he sought to diversify the company’s banking options should its main bank stop doing business with cryptocurrency companies.
Instead, he spent the money on clubbing, travel, clothing and other personal expenses, prosecutors said.
Thapa is also accused of stealing bitcoins from the company and deleting the Blockparty chief executive’s email account to cover up the incident.
Thapa faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the wire fraud charge.
New Jersey-based Blockparty started as a platform for blockchain-based event tickets and launched a marketplace for non-fungible tokens or NFTs in 2020, according to the company’s website.
Source: Moneytimes
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