Category Archives: money laundering

DOJ beefs up efforts to combat criminal use of cryptocurrencies

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The U.S. government is intensifying efforts to combat the criminal use of cryptocurrencies as federal prosecutors continue to target the business models and logistics of cybercrimes such as ransomware, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Thursday. Speaking at the Munich Cyber Security Conference to announce several key developments in the government’s approach, Monaco said that the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) — unveiled in October as part of an overall U.S. government to focus its resources on combatting ransomware operators — is getting its first director: Eun Young Choi. Choi is a seasoned federal cybersecurity prosecutor who most recently led the prosecution of Andrei Tyurin, a Russian national convicted of computer intrusion, wire fraud and other charges related to the theft of personal data from over 100 million customers of major U.S. financial firms. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in January 2021. “Ransomware and digital extortion — […]

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‘Razzlekhan’ released on bond, husband detained ahead of cryptocurrency laundering trial

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A U.S. judge Monday determined that Ilya Dutch Lichtenstein, one-half of the couple accused of a massive cryptocurrency laundering scheme, will await trial in prison. His wife and alleged co-conspirator, Heather Morgan, was set free on a $3 million bond package, with the conditions of strict electronic monitoring and limits on her virtual currency accounts. Federal law enforcement arrested the pair earlier this month for allegedly conspiring to launder $4.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency stolen in a 2016 hack of virtual cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex.  Lichtenstein and Morgan employed sophisticated money-laundering techniques that included the use of a combination of fictitious identities, automatic transactions, and dispersing funds across virtual currency accounts. Prosecutors found access keys to the wallet containing the stolen cryptocurrency in Lichtenstein’s cloud storage, evidence that Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District for the District of Columbia called a “smoking gun.” Howell deemed the pair a strong flight risk […]

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For signs of cryptocurrency laundering, look closely at Moscow firms, report says

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Moscow-based businesses appear to be handling much of the money laundering of cryptocurrency payments that come from global ransomware activity and other forms of cybercrime, according to a report from crypto-tracking company Chainalysis. The analysts focused on several dozen companies with a presence in Moscow City, the Russian capital’s skyscraper-packed business district. In any given quarter, “illicit and risky” blockchain addresses account for between 29% and 48% of all funds received by those cryptocurrency businesses, the report says. That traffic, including legitimate crypto transactions, can sometimes be more than $1 billion in a quarter, Chainalysis says. “A huge amount of cryptocurrency-based money laundering, not just of ransomware funds but of funds associated with other forms of cybercrime as well, goes through services with substantial operations in Russia,” Chainalysis says in the Monday blog post, which is based on its upcoming “2022 Crypto Crime Report.” The company defines “risky or illicit” […]

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$3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin seized from crooks tied to 2016’s Bitfinex hack

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By Waqas
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has confirmed seizing $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin in what could be…
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The Fight against Financial Cyber Crime

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By Owais Sultan
The financial services industry is a lucrative target and is disproportionately affected by the rise of cyber crime. Let’s discuss its prevention measures.
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Ohio man pleads guilty to role in $300-million cryptocurrency laundering service

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A 38-year-old Ohio man has pleaded guilty to his role in a cryptocurrency laundering service that moved some $300 million on behalf of dark web marketplaces and other clients, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Larry Dean Harmon admitted to running Helix, a popular service for concealing the source of bitcoin transactions, from 2014 to 2017. Helix allegedly worked with AlphaBay, a notorious $1 billion marketplace for hacking tools and drugs that security researchers recently warned could be coming back online. Harmon faces up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, according to the Justice Department. A lawyer for Harmon could not be reached for comment. As part of his plea deal, Harmon agreed to forfeit more than $200 million in bitcoin. After a multi-year investigation of Helix, U.S. law enforcement arrested Harmon in his hometown of Akron in February, 2020. The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has […]

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Two members of QQAAZZ, which laundered funds from cybercrime, plead guilty

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Two individuals involved with laundering funds from U.S. victims of cybercrime pleaded guilty to their role in a transnational organization that relied in part on hacking to defraud victims out of millions of dollars, the Justice Department announced Friday. The defendants, Arturs Zaharevics and Aleksejs Trofimovics, are just two of 20 indiviuals charged by the U.S. government with involvement with QQAAZZ, a European-based crime group that provided cash and cryptocurrency laundering for cybercriminals. U.S. and European authorities launched a major crackdown on the group last fall, resulting in indictments against 14 members of the criminal organization. QQAAZZ  allegedly laundered or attempted to launder tens of millions of dollars’ worth of funds stolen from cybercrime victims across 16 countries. Trofimovics opened thirteen corporate bank accounts in Portugal under a shell company to help move money for cybercriminals. Zaharevics, who was extradited from the United Kingdom in April, also set up foreign […]

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Cops Cop Cl0p Ransomware Gang (or Maybe Not?)

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The National Police of Ukraine is crowing about arresting eight alleged ransomware scrotes from the Clop gang.
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JP Morgan artificial intelligence researcher says AI goal is to ‘eradicate financial crime’

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J.P. Morgan envisions a chief role for artificial intelligence in putting an end to financial crimes, the company’s head of AI research said Monday. Financial crimes that institutions like J.P. Morgan might have to reckon with include money laundering, sanctions violations, fraud and outright cyber theft. Across all industries and organizations, financial crime cost companies and organizations $1.45 trillion in 2019, according to one estimate, with cybercrime and fraud reportedly the most common varieties. “There is this concept of values” for AI, said Manuela Veloso, who besides her work for J.P. Morgan has worked as a professor in Carnegie Mellon University’s school of computer science. “First, we want AI to be able to eradicate financial crime.” Veloso’s comments came Monday during AI Week, an event produced by Scoop News Group. Along with direct money heists, cybercriminals run afoul of the law in other ways that can be categorized as financial […]

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US arrests alleged ‘Bitcoin Fog’ boss, who is accused of laundering millions

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U.S. federal agents on Tuesday arrested the alleged operator of Bitcoin Fog, a cryptocurrency-obfuscation service that the dark web’s most notorious marketplaces have reportedly used to move tens of millions of dollars. Roman Sterlingov, a Russian-Swedish national, was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with money laundering for his alleged role as Bitcoin Fog’s mastermind, according to court documents. Created in 2011, Bitcoin Fog bills itself as a means of further anonymizing cryptocurrency transactions by separating transmitted bitcoin from a particular bitcoin address. Some $336 million in transactions were routed through Bitcoin Fog over a decade, according to a criminal complaint against Sterlingov filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. That included tens of millions of dollars laundered for dark web forums like AlphaBay and Silk Road, which were known for trafficking in drugs and hacking tools, as well as other illicit products, before being shut […]

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