Two MIT-educated brothers who allegedly stole $25 million in cryptography through blockchain exploits are fighting to keep Google’s search history out of court.
Anton and James Perea Well I filed an application Manhattan federal court on Friday alleged that the search was “unfairly biased” and occurred during privileged lawyer consultations following the alleged robbery in April 2023.
US District Judge Jessica GL Clark must decide whether the search that took place after the alleged crime shows a sense of guilt or simply reflects careful legal consultations during the investigation.
The brothers were arrested in May 2024 for conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering fees. The prosecutor calls it “The first operation of the Ethereum blockchain.”
Authorities claim they use “specialized skills and education” to misuse them Ethereum In April 2023, the MEV boost system fraudulently intercepted private transactions, diverting $25 million in just 12 seconds.
Court documents revealed that they kept their lawyers shortly after being “threatened by an anonymous sandwich attacker” who demanded the return of funds that were allegedly stolen.
The defense attorney provided a detailed privilege log showing that Google’s search was accurately matched with the lawyer’s communications.
According to court filings, the search for “top crypto attorneys” took place on the same day as “communications with potential lawyers seeking legal representation.”
“In order for the government to assert its preferred reasoning (i.e., a sense of crime guilt), the government will first need to establish that a particular search is related to the case,” the brothers said in the motion. “However, the content of the search itself does not show that.”
The defense argues that prosecutors lack witnesses to provide the context for the search, and that detective reasoning can be “purely speculative.”
“Google Search Histories can be used as a hint, but it’s context-sensitive,” says Alex Chandra, a partner at Ingos Law Alliance. Decryption. “The mere fact that someone Googled something is not an automatic proof of intention or guilt.”
“Post-conduction searches are more weaker evidence,” he said. This can show plans and intent compared to searches made prior to the allegation of the crime.
“We still need supportive evidence that the search matches the intent of the crime,” he added. “If Google searches are critical, that’s because it’s dangerous.”
My brothers have moved too Please exclude news articles As a hearsay, “explanation of inflammatory properties” Block Twitter screenshots Their “false signature” allegations of prosecutors saying they could not authenticate the images from pseudonym researcher Samshun’s tweet.
Each brother faces up to 20 years in prison per count if convicted.
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