A former Navy captain in Singapore stole 1.7 million USDT and was sentenced to six years and ten months in prison

According to a report by The Straits Times on May 9, Singapore’s National Court judge Wang Qinru made a ruling on May 8 in the case of the defendant, Zhang Rongxuan (35, phonetic transliteration), sentencing him to six years and ten months in prison. Zhang Rongxuan, a former captain in the Naval Diving Unit’s elite diving unit, was found to have, while a friend was out, entered the apartment, photographed the cold wallet seed phrases, and later stole 1.7 million USDT held by the friend.

Criminal process: Social engineering to obtain access, then photographing seed phrases

According to the case details cited by The Straits Times, in June 2022, the defendant met the victim (30, Chinese) through a friend’s introduction. The two later co-founded a non-fungible token (NFT) trading platform, which was under DiGi Selection Holdings Pte Ltd. The defendant served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), while the victim served as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

On December 14, 2022, the victim transferred 1.7 million USDT into a cold wallet and revealed this to the defendant in their conversation. Later that month, on December 18, the defendant, under the pretext of opening the door for a friend, obtained access to the victim’s apartment access card but did not return it.

On December 31, 2022, while the victim went out to watch New Year’s Eve fireworks, the defendant used the access card to enter the apartment. In a storage box in the victim’s bedroom closet, he found the cold wallet and a sheet of paper recording 24 English seed phrases. After taking photos, he put the items back in their original place. On January 1, 2023, the defendant used the seed phrases to restore account access on other devices, stealing all 1.7 million USDT from the victim.

On March 23, 2023, after the victim discovered that the cold wallet balance had been emptied, he reported to the police and commissioned a blockchain security company to trace the flow of funds. After the security company tracked the defendant’s cryptocurrency wallet, the victim confronted the defendant. The defendant admitted the crime and said that the motive was the substantial losses he suffered after the collapse of the FTX exchange.

Court ruling: Mental illness defense not accepted

According to The Straits Times, the defendant faced 16 charges, including violating the Computer Misuse Act and the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, among others. The defendant had previously pleaded guilty to six of the charges, while the remaining ones were taken into account together when the judge delivered the verdict on May 8, 2026. In the end, he was sentenced to six years and ten months in prison.

In his written judgment, National Court judge Wang Qinru stated that the defense claimed the defendant had an adjustment disorder at the time of the incident, but the judge found the condition at that time to be mild. She said it worsened only after the defendant faced pressure after his arrest, and that the condition had no causal link to the crimes committed. The judge also noted that the defendant was able to understand the wrongness of his actions, so the court did not treat this as a mitigating factor.

In response to The Straits Times, the Ministry of Defence of Singapore said the defendant is no longer a member of Singapore’s armed forces. It added that the armed forces strictly require all serving personnel to maintain a high level of discipline and moral character, and those who break the law will be dealt with according to law.

Use of proceeds and assets seized by police

According to the case details cited by The Straits Times, the defendant used part of the stolen 1.7 million USDT for the following purposes:

· Buying luxury watches and an Audi car

· Gambling: losing a total of S$1.5692 million at both bookmakers and illegal online gambling

· Repaying the housing loan: about S$115,449 remaining on the HDB flat housing loan

· Buying company shares: in February 2023, he bought shares of DiGi Selection Holdings Pte Ltd for S$200,000 to become a shareholder

Police seized from the defendant a luxury watch, an Audi car, and about S$130,000 in savings in a bank account. Besides transferring the company shares back to the victim, he did not make any other compensation.

Frequently asked questions

What are the timeline of the crime in this case and the date of the court’s sentence?

According to The Straits Times report on May 9, 2026, the defendant completed the theft on January 1, 2023. The victim reported to the police on March 23, 2023. Singapore National Court judge Wang Qinru sentenced the defendant to six years and ten months in prison on May 8, 2026.

How did the defendant steal USDT without directly holding the cold wallet?

According to the case details cited by The Straits Times, the defendant photographed a sheet of paper recording 24 English seed phrases kept by the victim. Afterwards, he entered the seed phrases on other devices to restore access to the cold wallet, stealing all 1.7 million USDT. The cold wallet password was neither recorded nor told to anyone, and this did not affect how he carried out the operation.

What was the official response from the Ministry of Defence of Singapore to this case?

According to The Straits Times report, in its reply to the inquiry, Singapore’s Ministry of Defence said the defendant is no longer a member of Singapore’s armed forces. It said the armed forces strictly require all serving personnel to maintain a high level of discipline and moral character, and those who break the law will be dealt with according to law.