US Judge Rejects Brothers' Motion to Dismiss $25 Million Cryptocurrency Fraud Charges

According to reports, US District Judge Jessica Clarke rejected a motion by MIT graduates Peraire-Bueno brothers to dismiss $25 million cryptocurrency fraud charges. Prosecutors allege that the brothers exploited a vulnerability in the Ethereum network in May 2024 to carry out arbitrage attacks by manipulating MEV bots. Court documents reveal that the brothers devised a four-step plan of 'bait-block-search-spread,' using 16 Ethereum validation nodes and 529.5 ETH as bait to intercept MEV bot transaction profits within 12 seconds. The court deemed their actions to meet the criteria for telecommunications fraud, despite the defendants arguing that 'system code allows such operations.' The case is expected to go to trial in October 2025, with the brothers facing charges of telecommunications fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, among others. Prosecutors have dropped one of the conspiracy to receive stolen property charges, but the remaining charges will proceed to trial.

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