[The defendants] were arrested this morning for participating in a scheme to steal millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency and trick U.S. banks into refunding them for the millions used to purchase that cryptocurrency, in part by using personal identifying information stolen from other people.

“As alleged, Esteban Cabrera Da Corte, Luis Hernandez Gonzalez, and Asdrubal Ramirez Meza used stolen identities to buy cryptocurrency and then doubled down by disputing the transactions, deceiving U.S. banks into believing that they themselves were the victims of someone else’s fraud.

The operation of this scheme by the Defendants resulted in U.S. banks processing more than $4 million in fraudulent reversals and the Cryptocurrency Exchange losing more than $3.5 million worth of cryptocurrency.

The arrests come as pressure from lawmakers intensifies for a crackdown on bad actors in cryptocurrency spaces. In March, President Joe Biden signed an executive order calling upon government agencies to make greater overtures to combat illicit activities occurring throughout the crypto industry and to shut down scams.