The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged Canadian national Andean Medjedovic with exploiting two major decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, KyberSwap and Indexed Finance, in schemes that allegedly netted him around $65 million. The indictment, unsealed on February 3 in a Brooklyn federal court, accuses Medjedovic of hacking, attempted extortion, money laundering, and wire fraud. Authorities have confirmed that he remains at large.
Details of the Alleged Exploits
Prosecutors claim that Medjedovic first targeted Indexed Finance in October 2021, using deceptive trading tactics to steal approximately $16.5 million from its liquidity pools. He allegedly executed a similar attack on KyberSwap in November 2023, this time siphoning off nearly $48.8 million.
According to the indictment, Medjedovic borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars in digital tokens and manipulated trades to trick the protocols’ smart contracts into miscalculating key variables. This allowed him to withdraw significant amounts of investor funds at artificially inflated prices, leaving victims’ investments virtually worthless.
Attempted Extortion and Money Laundering
After exploiting KyberSwap, Medjedovic reportedly tried to extort the platform’s operators. Prosecutors allege he sent on-chain messages threatening to stall negotiations regarding the return of the stolen funds. He later demanded control over the protocol, offering to return just 50% of the stolen digital assets in exchange.
Authorities also claim that Medjedovic conspired with a relative to launder the stolen crypto. They allegedly used crypto mixers and blockchain bridges in an effort to cash out the funds through exchanges and bank accounts created with false identities. When one bridge protocol froze some of the funds, Medjedovic is said to have paid an undercover law enforcement agent posing as a software developer $85,000 to attempt to release the frozen assets.
Medjedovic’s legal representation has not been disclosed, and efforts to reach him for comment have been unsuccessful. The DOJ continues its investigation, and Medjedovic remains at large as authorities work to locate him.
