Tennessee Man Found Guilty Of Mitt Romney Tax Return Hack Scheme

A 37-year old man from Tennessee was found guilty of extortion and wire fraud by a federal grand jury in Nashville May 12 for threatening to release the income tax returns of former 2012 U.S. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

According to the US Department of Justice, Michael Mancil Brown of Franklin, TN was convicted of charges of six counts of wire fraud and six counts of using facilities of interstate commerce in connection to a scheme claiming that he had hacked the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP computer network and obtained pre-2010 income tax documents of Romney and his wife Ann.

Brown demanded a ransom of $1 million be paid into a Bitcoin account or else the information would be publicized. Similar letters were also sent to the Franklin Democratic and Republican party offices, the DOJ reported in a press release.

The anonymous letter also asked for $1 million into another Bitcoin account from anyone wanting the details released.

Brown is scheduled to be sentenced in August.    

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