In a recent development, Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation has revealed its pursuit of Monero transactions in connection with the ongoing criminal trial of Julius Aleksanteri Kivimäki. Kivimäki faces charges related to the alleged hacking of a private mental health firm’s database, followed by ransom demands made in various cryptocurrencies.
New evidence presented by prosecutors on January 22 shed light on a crypto trail leading directly to Kivimäki’s bank account. The accusations stem from an October 2022 incident where the hacker purportedly demanded 40 Bitcoin to refrain from releasing sensitive records of over 33,000 patients associated with psychotherapy service provider Vastaamo.
When the ransom demands went unanswered, Kivimäki is said to have turned his attention to individual patients. According to Finnish police reports, the hacker received payments in Bitcoin, funneled them through a non-KYC-compliant exchange, converted the funds to Monero, and subsequently transferred them to a dedicated Monero wallet.
Further investigations revealed that the cryptocurrency trail extended to Binance, where the funds were exchanged back into Bitcoin before being distributed across various wallets. Despite these findings, local authorities remain tight-lipped, maintaining confidentiality and refraining from disclosing additional details about their on-chain analysis.
