money laundering
Latest
Dutch authorities arrest alleged developer of crypto mixing service Tornado Cash
The 29-year-old is suspected of money laundering.
US imposes sanctions on cryptocurrency mixer that allegedly laundered over $7 billion
The US has sanctioned Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer that reportedly helped North Korea launder stolen funds.
US Treasury issues first-ever sanctions against a cryptocurrency mixer
The US Treasury has issued its first sanctions against a digital currency mixer, accusing Blender of helping North Korea launder crypto.
Forbes plans a show and documentary about the bitcoin laundering scandal
Forbes is making two projects around the bitcoin money laundering couple.
Netflix is already making a docuseries about the alleged billion-dollar bitcoin launderers
Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather 'Razzlekhan' Morgan were arrested and charged this week.
US-Canadian gets 11 years for laundering money for a North Korean hacking group
A dual US-Canadian national has been sentenced to 140 months in prison for laundering tens of millions of dollars.
Man charged for allegedly selling insider trading tips on the dark web
Apostolos Trovias faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted of money laundering and securities fraud.
It won't be easy to hide the Bitcoin stolen through Twitter
Someone hacked Twitter to run a Bitcoin double-your-money scam. Here's how hard it'll be to clean that cash.
Ohio man charged for laundering $300 million through Bitcoin 'mixer'
American law enforcement just illustrated how important cryptocurrency has become in the criminal world. Federal agents have charged Ohio resident Larry Harmon for allegedly running a darknet-based Bitcoin "mixer" that laundered the equivalent of roughly $300 million for drug dealers and other crooks. Helix, as it was called while it ran between 2014 and 2017, reportedly let customers pay to send Bitcoin in a way that hid the true source. It operated with "brazenness," the IRS' Don Fort said. Helix supposedly partnered with AlphaBay to serve the darknet black market's customers, and advertised Helix on the Grams search engine (which Harmon apparently ran) as a way to hide deals from police.
Apple 'surprised' by Germany's new law to open up mobile payments
Germany has introduced new legislation to deal with money-laundering, and it's causing problems for Apple. On Thursday, the German Parliament passed a raft of new measures to bring the country in line with EU directives on money laundering. These include stricter regulations for real estate agents, notaries, auction houses, and operators of electronic money infrastructure. The legislation didn't specifically name Apple nor Apple Pay, but it basically means Apple and Apple Pay.
Fraud forces Valve to kill ‘CS:GO’ loot box key trading
Valve's policy of allowing Counter Strike: Global Offensive players to buy and re-sell keys to access in-game loot boxes is no more. The company has announced that the marketplace has apparently been taken over by large fraud networks as a way of laundering money. On the CS:GO blog, an unnamed staffer wrote that "nearly all key purchases that end up being traded or sold on the marketplace are believed to be fraud-sourced."
US says digital assets are covered by money laundering and disclosure laws
US regulators issued a blunt warning to cryptocurrency holders who think they're not beholden to the usual rules. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network have put out a joint statement to "remind" people that digital assets like crypto, tokens and other digital assets are subject to laws that bar money laundering and require reporting of suspicious activity. The Bank Secrecy Act's rules "apply very broadly," the officials said.
UK police auction TalkTalk hacker's cryptocurrency
A UK police force auctioned off more than £240,000 of cryptocurrency that they confiscated from the teenage hacker behind the 2015 TalkTalk breach. In April 2018, police discovered that Elliott Gunton was stealing personal data in exchange for hundreds of thousands of pounds in cryptocurrency. According to BBC, he admitted to five charges, including computer misuse and money laundering. He was sentenced to 20 months jail time and ordered to pay back £407,359. Apparently he was also sitting on a pretty large stash of cryptocurrency.
US Treasury has 'serious concerns' Libra could be used for terrorism
The US government views cryptocurrencies, including Facebook-backed Libra, as a national security issue. In a press conference today, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Treasury Department has "very serious concerns" that Libra could be misused by money launderers, terrorist financiers and other bad players. While the concerns are not entirely surprising, they do make the US government's stance on cryptocurrency more than clear.
Silk Road 2 founder sentenced five years after the site was shut down
It's been nearly five years since the feds shut down Silk Road 2. But its founder is only now being sentenced to prison. According to Motherboard, Thomas White, also known as Dread Pirate Roberts 2 (DPR2) plead guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and making indecent images of children. Now he faces five years and four months in prison.
Former Apple employee admits he sold confidential info, cost the company in excess of $2 million
Paul Devine, the man who last August collected a pretty lengthy list of charges against his name from the FBI and IRS -- which collectively amounted to an accusation of "screwing Apple" -- has now admitted his guilt. Specifically, Devine has fessed up to wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, in which he engaged while exchanging confidential information about upcoming Apple products for cold hard cash from interested parts suppliers. He's now having to forfeit $2.28 million in money and property that resulted from his nefarious exploits, with sentencing scheduled for June 6th. Devine's lawyer is quoted as saying he's a "good man who made a mistake, and now he's trying to make amends." Indeed, the mistake of getting caught and the amends of trying not to go to prison. Jump past the break for a full statement on the matter from the US Department of Justice.
Apple supply manager arrested for wire fraud, money laundering
Ever wonder why -- after years of secrecy -- camera-ready iPod cases began rolling out? The answer could possibly be Apple supply manager Paul Shin Devine, who was just fingered by the FBI and IRS as a fraudulent, money laundering mole. Devine was arrested Friday for allegedly receiving kickbacks from six accessory suppliers in exchange for confidential information, which apparently gave them an edge in negotiating Apple contracts. "The alleged scheme used an elaborate chain of U.S. and foreign bank accounts and one front company to receive payments," reports the San Jose Mercury News, "and code words like 'sample' were used to refer to the payments so that Apple co-workers wouldn't become suspicious." Though we're not yet sure what specific confidential information might have been passed along and we doubt the indictment will say, a separate civil suit filed by Apple claims Devine accepted over $1 million in "payments, kickbacks and bribes" over the course of several years.
The Queue: Earthquake bonanza
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Today we're going to skip the wacky shenanigans that usually plague the intros to the Queue. Instead, I'm going to blow your minds with the news that Chile's recent earthquake was large enough that it has potentially moved the Earth's axis and an Earth day is now shorter because of it. dav103id asked... "When running Shadowfang Keep during Love is in the Air, did anyone else notice Arugal on the other side of the courthouse gate when you first enter the instance? Has he always been there at that location or was he added for the Love is in the Air boss event?"
Gold farmers connected with $38 million money laundering bust
We've heard about gold farmers tangling with the law before, but this is pretty extreme from initial accounts we've turned up. So while a few of the details coming out of Korea are still a bit hazy, it seems a money laundering operation (working with gold farmers and MMO account thieves) was busted this week while trying to move $38 million between Korea and China. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency stated the operation was headed by a man named Jeong who, with a number of other individuals in Korea, was caught wiring the $38 million in illicit funds. Korean news site dongA reports: "Jeong and his ring reportedly sold the game money illegally produced in China using cheap labor and virus programs. They are believed to have taken a commission of three to five percent of the money traded to purchase game money."
Money laundering in Second Life: get real
According to several of my real life friends who have jobs in the financial sector, Second Life has a reputation in the UK-financial and computer professional industries as a haven for money laundering. About 10 seconds worth of research suggests this is total bunk.The official line is that amounts of about £25,000 (roughly US$50,000) constitute the bottom end for money laundering. This is easy to lose in the US$1.5 million that changes hands in Second Life daily (see Counting the coppers for daily information). This is true. It also ignores one rather critical element.
