“C’est une décision satisfaisante,” declared Me Robin Binsard, attorney for the primary defendant, following a Paris court ruling on November 6, 2024, that handed down a five-year prison sentence, including two years served, to an IT specialist who orchestrated the theft of one billion digital tokens.
The correctional chamber of the Paris judicial court delivered its verdict in the high-profile digital asset manipulation case involving Holograph Foundation, an enterprise established in the Cayman Islands. The principal accused, an Ukrainian national residing in France widely known in digital token circles under the pseudonym “Monsieur Personne,” was found guilty of unauthorized access to automated data processing systems, organized fraud, money laundering, and criminal association.
- The primary defendant received a five-year prison term with a 36-month probationary suspension, alongside a 600,000-euro fine justified by substantial professional earnings, as reported by ZDNET.
- The first accomplice was sentenced to two years in prison—with 14 months suspended—and ordered to pay an 80,000-euro fine.
- The second accomplice received a two-year fully suspended prison sentence paired with a 40,000-euro fine, according to court documents cited by bfmtv.com.
The unauthorized generation of digital assets occurred between May and August 2024 while the perpetrators operated from Paris and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in the Alpes-Maritimes department, according to Le Figaro. The main defendant utilized his former professional status as an IT contractor who had worked on the Holograph protocol since April 2021 to alter token creation parameters.
By modifying these conditions on the protocol, the former employee generated one billion HLG utility tokens without authorization. Jean-Marc Morandini noted that these assets were immediately transferred to a personal digital wallet controlled by the defendant before being funneled across multiple accounts on various exchange platforms. Prosecutors estimated the initial value of the seized assets at approximately 14 million dollars, while ZDNET noted the actual extraction amounted to roughly 1.3 million dollars.
| Defendant Role | Prison Sentence | Fine Imposed |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Defendant (Vitaly K.) | 5 years (2 years firm) | 600,000 € |
| First Accomplice | 2 years (14 months suspended) | 80,000 € |
| Second Accomplice | 2 years (fully suspended) | 40,000 € |
During the proceedings, Holograph Foundation sought extensive financial compensation, arguing that the token theft directly triggered the total collapse of the HLG asset value, which drove the company into liquidation proceedings.
The presiding judge reasoned that the digital asset had entered the market shortly before the incident and experienced sharp downward price volatility prior to the illicit transfer, meaning no reliable economic baseline existed to link the subsequent collapse directly to the fraud. The three convicted individuals were ordered to pay a joint restitution of approximately 1.15 million euros for direct financial damages alongside 106,800 euros for auxiliary losses.
Defense representatives welcomed the court’s refusal to attribute the asset’s broader market failure to their client. Me Robin Binsard a déclaré à ZDNET que cette décision satisfaisante permettrait au principal prévenu de retrouver la liberté dans les prochains mois, après son incarcération en septembre 2024 à la suite de son interpellation en Italie.
The case stands alongside other major security incidents in the sector, including a massive digital heist targeting the global exchange Binance involving an estimated 6.3 billion dollars, as well as the 2023 prosecution regarding the Platypus decentralized finance platform in France.
