Teenage Bomb Hoaxer Jailed after Banking $800,000 in Bitcoin

[maiduy1792]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg1Hwy0rcyY
 


An American-Israeli teenager who made bomb threats for a living has been sentenced to a decade in prison by a Tel Aviv court after making a small fortune in bitcoin.

According to prosecutors, 19-year old Michael Kadar was responsible for around 2,000 bomb hoaxes between 2015 and 2017, threats which earned him the nickname the “JCC bomb hoaxer” in Israel due to his focus on Jewish Community Centers. Other targets included commercial airlines, airports, police stations, malls, hospitals, and schools, per The New York Times.

To make bomb threats to commercial jets Kadar, charged US$500, while bomb threats to private residences cost US$40. Kadar, who was home-schooled due to an autistic condition that made integration difficult, charged US$80 to make a bomb threat to schools.

Dark Web Operator
Per court documents, Kadar offered his services on the dark net, and he was paid in bitcoin, generating close to 184 BTC (around US$0.8 million at current prices) in the course of the “career” that started when he was a minor.

bitcoin crime

According to media reports in Israel, some of the bomb threats Kadar made to schools occurred after he was paid by students who wanted to have exams postponed. The bomb hoaxes generated panic and resulted in forced mass evacuations as police and emergency services responded. In some instances, fighter jets were scrambled in order to escort commercial planes that had been forced to land.

“One can easily imagine the terror, the fear and the horror that gripped the airplane passengers who were forced to make an emergency landing, some of whom were injured while evacuating the plane and the terrified panic caused when there was a need to evacuate pupils from schools because of fake bomb threats,” read the verdict from Judge Zvi Gurfinkel.

Campaign of Terror Spanning Continents
Among the countries that Kadar’s campaign of terror was visited upon included Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, Ireland, Belgium, and Argentina.

Kadar, who made the bomb threats from his parent’s home in Ashkelon, a coastal city in southern Israel, used sophisticated software that altered his voice and disguised his location. An investigation into his crimes took the efforts of the Israeli Police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as other security agencies from around the world.

Though several thousand US dollars in cash were found on Kadar when his home was raided, the teen refused to disclose the details of his bitcoin wallet, which is believed to contain the bulk of his earnings.

[HabBear]

Per court documents, Kadar offered his services on the dark net, and he was paid in bitcoin, generating close to 184 BTC (around US$0.8 million at current prices) in the course of the “career” that started when he was a minor.

Yeah, if that fact was in court documents he doesn't own that bitcoin anymore. The Israeli or American Federal Agencies own this bitcoin now. I suppose it's possible he didn't share how to access his wallet(s) but that's debatable and unlikely. People usually cough up the information if the threat is great enough.

[1993jochico]

According to prosecutors, 19-year old Michael Kadar was responsible for around 2,000 bomb hoaxes between 2015 and 2017, threats which earned him the nickname the “JCC bomb hoaxer” in Israel due to his focus on Jewish Community Centers. Other targets included commercial airlines, airports, police stations, malls, hospitals, and schools, per The New York Times.

I wonder how much he earned on that 2000 bomb threats.

Also if he is paid on BTC back on 2015 I think he must have more than 184 BTC because that time BTC has low value.

[figmentofmyass]

Yeah, if that fact was in court documents he doesn't own that bitcoin anymore. The Israeli or American Federal Agencies own this bitcoin now. I suppose it's possible he didn't share how to access his wallet(s) but that's debatable and unlikely. People usually cough up the information if the threat is great enough.

sounds like he hasn't given it up yet:

Though several thousand US dollars in cash were found on Kadar when his home was raided, the teen refused to disclose the details of his bitcoin wallet, which is believed to contain the bulk of his earnings.

Also if he is paid on BTC back on 2015 I think he must have more than 184 BTC because that time BTC has low value.

2015 through 2017. so that's a pretty wide price range. the kid was also charging as little as $40 per bomb hoax, so that might explain it.

if he can manage to hold onto a couple hundred BTC and get through the prison time, he should be very rich when he gets out.

[Teawhalee]

I wonder how he managed to hide for some years before he was finally caught. I always knew that same energy used to do evils things can also be used to do good things. The question is why choose evil?  He must have made a lot of btc more than that record and maybe spent some.  I hope his bitcoin saving can be recovered and used for a good purpose. 

[Gloverwrt]

if he can manage to hold onto a couple hundred BTC and get through the prison time, he should be very rich when he gets out.

The exact amount of BTC is known, so it's possible the have a little access, he has enough motivation to not divulge any other information and serve his prison time, before returning to his fortune.
It's also possible leave there's an insurance stashed away somewhere that hasn't come to light yet.

[Reatim]

I wonder how he managed to hide for some years before he was finally caught. I always knew that same energy used to do evils things can also be used to do good things. The question is why choose evil?  He must have made a lot of btc more than that record and maybe spent some.  I hope his bitcoin saving can be recovered and used for a good purpose. 

He offered his services on the dark net, so probably using TOR to hide his identity and it also mentioned that he used sophisticated tech to alter his voice. But we all know that sooner or later government will hunt and track you down, just a matter of time.

Since the article says he is home-schooled because of autism, I think this will be the center of their defense.

[jimbo2000]

Interesting career choice, quite easy work really, just a shame it's so illegal and immoral. I wouldn't mind all too much being paid $500 just to speak a few words on the phone. I hope that some story isn't made of this and bitcoin, that's not important at all to the story, it shouldn't matter if he was paid in dollars, bitcoin or wild goats.

[Baofeng]

Interesting career choice, quite easy work really, just a shame it's so illegal and immoral. I wouldn't mind all too much being paid $500 just to speak a few words on the phone. I hope that some story isn't made of this and bitcoin, that's not important at all to the story, it shouldn't matter if he was paid in dollars, bitcoin or wild goats.

Yeah, maybe the kid see a career making hoaxes and earning very easy money. Well, that's the mindset of a criminals, they always think of something that can make them more money in short amount of time. However, this kid really don't know that the full hands of the law will bite him is in ass. And as much as he is always one step ahead of the game, authorities will be at this tail and that's what happen to him. He thought he is safe, until one day all his criminal activity was put to an end.

[jimbo2000]

Interesting career choice, quite easy work really, just a shame it's so illegal and immoral. I wouldn't mind all too much being paid $500 just to speak a few words on the phone. I hope that some story isn't made of this and bitcoin, that's not important at all to the story, it shouldn't matter if he was paid in dollars, bitcoin or wild goats.

Yeah, maybe the kid see a career making hoaxes and earning very easy money. Well, that's the mindset of a criminals, they always think of something that can make them more money in short amount of time. However, this kid really don't know that the full hands of the law will bite him is in ass. And as much as he is always one step ahead of the game, authorities will be at this tail and that's what happen to him. He thought he is safe, until one day all his criminal activity was put to an end.

When you think of the extent of it, it's inevitable he'd get caught because there would be so many resources invested in to finding him. I think if someone were to make one or two hoaxes here and there then the authorities might not invest so much time and effort in to finding them but given that it was hundreds or thousands they would have been wasting so much time and money following up on these false threats.

[dothebeats]

Every negative actions demand consequences in the end and its inevitable. Too bad though, this will be used against bitcoin once more even if the individual's action really has nothing to do with the cryptocurrency per se. Bomb threats are serious things that should not be taken lightly regardless of whether it's a prank or not, and it's surprising that some punks are being paid to do this. Imagine the trauma and stress this may have caused to people who may have been affected by the said threat. This issue is not regarding bitcoin IMO but an immoral act made by a desperate hooligan wanting to get some quick buck.

[coinwizard_]

If he really wanted to be successful then why not carry out this scam using monero or some other well established privacy coin, he will get caught for sure using just bitcoin

[maianh09]

This type of reports are making BTC worst in other people opinion.. Btw, this kid is really genius, businessman

I agree with you that young people often have excellent thinking in business. They can think of a lot of ways to find a lot of money and can break the law safely. But this information is bad for others, and they think Bitcoin is for criminals only.