BTC-e Founder Sentenced To Five Years in Prison for Laundering Ransomware Funds (zdnet.com) 9
A French judge has sentenced the founder of the now-defunct BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange to five years in prison and a fine of $121,000 for laundering funds for cybercriminals, including ransomware gangs, ZDNet France reported today. From the report: Alexander Vinnik, 41, a Russian national, dodged a bigger sentence after French prosecutors failed to prove that the BTC-e founder was directly involved in the creation and the distribution of Locky, a ransomware strain that was active in 2016 and 2017. "Mr. Vinnik, the court acquitted you of the offenses relating to the cyber-attacks linked to Locky, as well as the offenses of extortion and association to criminal activities, but finds you guilty of organized money laundering," the judge said when reading the sentence. innik was trialed in Paris this fall after a long and complicated legal battle. He was initially arrested in July 2017 while vacationing in a summer resort in northern Greece. He was taken into custody by Greek police under an international warrant issued by the US for his involvement in running BTC-e, a cryptocurrency exchange that Vinnik founded in 2011, together with fellow Russian national Aleksandr Bilyuchenko. US authorities said Vinnik operated BTC-e as a front company for a money-laundering operation, knowingly receiving funds from hacks and other forms of cybercrime and helping crooks cash out stolen funds into fiat currency.
Money laundering. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Now how about the other exchanges?
Yep. There can't be a single exchange out there that hasn't laundered money - it's what Bitcoin's for!
Its about lack of identification (Score:2)
Yep. There can't be a single exchange out there that hasn't laundered money - it's what Bitcoin's for!
There are bitcoin exchanges that require real identification to convert to and from fiat currency. I think a lack of identification is how btc-e got into trouble, not merely coins from criminal activity passing through. If you cooperate and identify the account/address holder you may have a safe harbor. Assuming of course you had no prior knowledge of the criminal activity.
Re: (Score:2)
No illegal funds have ever been passed through the NYSE or NASDAQ? Might as well shut down the cash only pizza shop on the corner while you're at it. He's certainly a front.
Only half the story, US gov't sized 40% of coins (Score:4, Interesting)
I think there was a process to get your seized coins if you identified yourself, the source of the coins, etc.
First Step (Score:1)
That's a good start. Now go after the source.
'Bout Fucking Time! (Score:2)
From TFS:
A French judge has sentenced the founder of the now-defunct BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange to five years in prison and a fine of $121,000 for laundering funds for cybercriminals, including ransomware gangs,
Great start!
Now, let's just outlaw Cryptocurrency altogether worldwide, and watch nearly all Ransomware dry up overnight!
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Oh, that's unlikely. It will just get more expensive to launder the money. You didn't think that the ransoms paid to the pirates in Somalia was paid with footlockers of dollar bills, did you? Or the kidnapping rings in Mexico were receiving suitcases of gold coins? It all goes through Citicorp, Credit Suisse/First Boston, Morgan Chase, Bank of London and the rest of the multinationals, who skim 10-15% off the top for their "private banking" services. Within ten minutes of the ransom being paid it's bee
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, that's unlikely. It will just get more expensive to launder the money.
Although I know about the money laundering you speak of, I still think that outlawing all Cryptocurrencies will go a very long way to eliminating Ransomware. Their existence is linked to an undeniable degree.
Sure, there are other ways to launder money; but none is so uniquely suited to Ransomware extortion, nor nearly universally employed, than Cryptocurrency.