A 28-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday to a wire fraud scheme he planned to use in an effort to extort money from his former company, BP America Inc, according to a U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.
According to court records, George Koutsostamatis, of Chicago, was a BP employee before he was indicted and arrested in December 2017.
In court, he admitted he sent an email to his company, BP, falsely claiming to possess personal information of company employees and their families, according to court documents.
Court records go on to say that Koutsostamatis also alleged that he had infiltrated BP’s computers and computer network system. He then threatened to release the information if he was not paid 125 bitcoins.
Bitcoin is known as cryptocurrency, which is a digital currency used online without a central bank or single administrator. According to an online currency converter, 125 bitcoins are worth more than $1 million.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake accepted the plea and has set sentencing for July 13, 2018.
At that time, Koutsostamatis faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. He was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing.
The FBI Houston Cyber Task Force investigated this case.
The Houston field office of the FBI led the investigation with assistance from U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Houston and Chicago and the National Crime Agency in the United Kingdom.
This article first appeared on the Houston Chronicle – an Energy Voice content partner. For more from the Houston Chronicle click here.