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A cryptocurrency investor has accused a group of teenagers of conducting multimillion-dollar cyber heists, calling them "evil computer geniuses", court documents show.
Michael Terpin has accused Ellis Pinsky of masterminding a "sophisticated cybercrime spree" starting when Pinsky was just 15 years old, alongside a crew of hackers also including minors.
Mr Terpin's complaint claims that the teenagers' financial crimes "are no less insidious than bank robberies, credit card and bank fraud, and money laundering by drug traffickers and terrorists".
The legal filing in New York describes Pinsky as, "on the surface... an 'all American boy' [who] lives a suburban life with a doting mother who is a prominent doctor".
But "despite their wholesome appearances, Pinsky and his other cohorts are in fact evil computer geniuses with sociopathic traits who heartlessly ruin their innocent victims' lives and gleefully boast of their multi-million-dollar heists," it adds.
Pinsky, now 18, "and his gang of digital bandits" are accused of stealing $24m from Mr Terpin in cryptocurrency after stealing a SIM card and using it to gain access to Mr Terpin's mobile phone number and take control of his cryptocurrency accounts.
Although these accounts were protected with two-factor authentication, the authentication method - using codes texted by SMS, rather than being generated through an app - allowed hackers to intercept the texts.
Mr Terpin has previously won a $75m judgment against Nicholas Truglia, who is also named in the court complaint at one of Pinsky's associates.
Truglia had pleaded not guilty, according to Bloomberg.
Sky News was unable to contact Pinsky or his lawyers for their response to the allegations.
Mr Terpin is also currently suing mobile provider AT&T for failing to protect him from the SIM-swapping attack. AT&T has asked a judge to dismiss the case.
