Counterfeit passports, 65 million dollars in the United States, and an Interpol Red Notice: Canadian cryptocurrency escapee disappears following detention in Serbia.

 

As his plane took off from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on its way to Kuwait with a stop in Istanbul, Canadian cryptocurrency fugitive Andean Medjedovic was not aware that his nomadic lifestyle was about to come to an end.

Just fourteen days later, on December 11, 2023, authorities in the Netherlands released a European arrest warrant for the then 21-year-old, accusing him of executing a "complex hack" that yielded $48 million US in digital currency.

The Hamilton local, who completed high school at the age of 14 and earned a master's degree in pure mathematics at 18, was apprehended nine months after in Belgrade, Serbia, where he promptly appeared in front of a judge.

Documents from the extradition process at the Belgrade Higher Court, acquired by the fifth estate and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), reveal an astonishing view into the life and locations of a young individual allegedly possessing $65 million US in cryptocurrency and being pursued for arrest by several nations.

For four years, the public has largely remained in the dark regarding Medjedovic's whereabouts. Speculation on the internet has been intensified by his own remarks to the media, where he referred to South America, unnamed islands, and a prison "somewhere in Europe."

Since his disappearance in late 2021, based on translated comments made during the Serbian legal proceedings, he has reportedly traveled to Brazil, Dubai, Spain, and various other places.

"He could be living a lavish life," stated Kyle Armstrong, a former FBI agent currently working with blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs.

"However, finding venues to rent, purchase a vehicle, or travel using cryptocurrency can be quite challenging," he noted. Nonetheless, "there are specific methods, and if he has hidden his tracks thus far, he might have converted some of his millions into cash."

Medjedovic has gained a reputation in the world of cryptocurrency for supposedly utilizing his skills in mathematics and computer coding to siphon off millions from two digital currency platforms. His infamy escalated after he began communicating with those affected and online onlookers in a manner that contrasts sharply with typical behavior of alleged crypto thieves, who frequently leverage the technology's inherent anonymity to vanish quietly with their gains.

Not long after a substantial amount of cryptocurrency was stolen from the Vietnam-based platform KyberSwap, a crime linked to Medjedovic by both American and Dutch law enforcement, the previously unidentified culprit sent a message that was visible to the public: "Negotiations will begin in a few hours once I am fully rested. Thank you."