Feds: Microsoft worker stole millions in digital currency

SEATTLE – A former Microsoft worker has been charged in what investigators describe as a scheme to steal $10 million in digital currency.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle says 25-year-old Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Kvashuk helped test Microsoft’s online retail sales platform.

He’s accused of stealing digital currency such as gift cards that could be redeemed for Microsoft products, then reselling them on the internet and using the proceeds to buy a $160,000 Tesla vehicle and a $1.7 million lakefront home. Prosecutors say he was fired in June 2018 after the scheme came to light, and that during the seven months of his activity, $2.8 million was transferred into his bank accounts.

Kvashuk was arrested Tuesday. His attorney did not immediately return an email seeking comment.