Key takeaways
- The US DOJ has charged two Russian nationals in reference to the 2011 Mount Gox hack.
- Each suspects will likely be charged with conspiracy to commit cash laundering within the Southern District of New York.
- One suspect is charged with cash laundering conspiracy and working an unlicensed cash providers enterprise within the Northern District of California.
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Alexey Bilyuchenko, 43, and Alexander Werner, 29, each Russian nationals, have been charged by the US Division of Justice in reference to the 2011 hacking of main cryptocurrency change Mount Gox and the unlawful operation of one other crypto change known as BTC-e.
A 2011 theft led to Mount Gox’s chapter in 2014.
Fees filed by the Southern District of New York embody conspiracy to commit cash laundering in opposition to each defendants, whereas the Northern District of California additionally charged Belyuchenko with cash laundering conspiracy and working unlicensed cash providers. Enterprise.
The allegations reveal a posh, years-long operation that spanned a number of continents and concerned the theft and laundering of roughly 647,000 BTC from Mount Gox customers. U.S. Lawyer for the Northern District of California Ismail J. Ramsey mentioned in a press launch:
“Through the years, Belyuchenko and his co-conspirators allegedly operated a digital foreign money change that enabled criminals all over the world — together with laptop hackers, ransomware actors, narcotics rings and corrupt public officers — to launder billions of {dollars}.”
The indictment alleges that Belyuchenko and Werner carried out a major hack in September 2011 in opposition to Mount Gox, the biggest bitcoin change on the time. Utilizing their unauthorized entry, they “allowed Bitcoin to be transferred from Mount Gox’s pockets to a Bitcoin deal with. Belyuchenko, Werner and their co-conspirators. In line with the DOJ, they laundered 647,000 BTC from Mount Gox plus extra BTC by means of two different on-line exchanges.
Posing as a supplier of promoting providers to Bitcoin Brokerage Providers in New York, the pair allegedly persuaded the dealer to switch greater than $6.6 million between March 2012 and April 2013 to offshore accounts underneath their management. In return, the dealer acquired “credit score”. The change platform, which was used to launder over 300,000 stolen BTC:
“A fraudulent promoting settlement with a New York bitcoin dealer allegedly enabled Belyuchenko, Werner and their co-conspirators to cover and liquidate the bitcoins stolen by the Mount Gox hack.”
Belyuchenko is accused of becoming a member of forces with Alexander Vinik, a Russian cryptocurrency “cash launderer” convicted by the DOJ in 2022, to run the notorious BTC-e digital foreign money change from 2011 till it was shut down by regulation enforcement in 2017. The indictment claims BTC-e was one of many world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, which was allegedly used as a laundering software for cybercriminals globally.
