Joshua Paul Armbrust, Computer Fraud, Minnesota 2024

State: Minnesota
Category: Cybercrime
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/northern-minnesota-man-indicted-cryptojacking-scheme" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

MINNEAPOLIS – In a brazen cybercrime, a northern Minnesota man has been indicted for an illegal ‘cryptojacking’ scheme that caused significant financial losses for his former employer, a global e-commerce and payment processing company.

Joshua Paul Armbrust, 44, of Orr, Minnesota, was indicted for one count of computer fraud after he allegedly used his former employer’s computing resources to mine cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, between December 2020 and May 2021.

According to court documents, Armbrust resigned from his employment at Digital River in February 2020. However, he continued to remotely access his former employer’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) account on multiple occasions without authorization.

Digital River suffered significant costs as a result of Armbrust’s actions, totaling over $45,000. The mined Ethereum was directed into a digital wallet and subsequently transferred to two Coinbase accounts registered solely in Armbrust’s name.

Armbrust then liquidated the mined Ethereum, totaling over $7,000, and transferred the proceeds to his Wells Fargo banking account. The indictment charges Armbrust with one count of computer fraud.

The case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley M. Endicott prosecuting the case. Armbrust made his initial appearance on November 1, 2024, in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge John F. Docherty.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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