Cryptocurrency fraudsters who sold classified military information for cryptocurrency were sentenced to 40 years in prison

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a married couple who tried to sell classified data related to the design of nuclear-powered warships for cryptocurrency has been sentenced to prison for espionage.

Nuclear engineer Jonathan Toebbe was an employee of the Department of the Navy, and together with his wife Diana Toebbe, they communicated with an allegedly interested representative of another state about the disclosure of US military secrets. The couple transmitted classified information on SD cards that they hid in peanut butter sandwiches, gum wrappers, and band-aids. However, the «representative of another state» turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. The criminals planned to receive $ 100,000 in unnamed cryptocurrency.

The couple was detained during another attempt to transfer classified information back in 2021, and in February 2022, they pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Jonathan Toebbe was sentenced to 19 years in prison and his wife to 21 years.

This is not the only case of Americans trying to sell classified information for cryptocurrency. In early October, it became known that a former employee of the National Security Agency planned to sell classified data to a person who worked for a foreign government (as the fraudster believed). However, the person in question turned out to be an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation agent. on September 28, Dahlke was arrested while trying to transfer classified information.