The 36-year-old founding father of the Bitcoin Fog cryptocurrency mixer has been sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in jail for facilitating cash laundering actions between 2011 and 2021.
Roman Sterlingov, a twin Russian-Swedish nationwide, pleaded responsible to expenses of cash laundering and working an unlicensed money-transmitting enterprise earlier this March.
The U.S. Division of Justice (DoJ) described Bitcoin Fog because the darknet’s longest-running cryptocurrency mixer, permitting cybercriminals to hide the supply of their cryptocurrency proceeds.
“Over the course of its decade-long operation, Bitcoin Fog gained notoriety as a go-to cash laundering service for criminals looking for to cover their illicit proceeds from regulation enforcement and processed transactions involving over 1.2 million bitcoin, valued at roughly $400 million on the time the transactions occurred,” the DoJ mentioned.
“The majority of this cryptocurrency got here from darknet marketplaces and was tied to unlawful narcotics, pc crimes, identification theft, and youngster sexual abuse materials.”
Along with the jail time period, Sterlingov has been sentenced to forfeit $395.56 million, in addition to seized cryptocurrencies and financial property valued at roughly $1.76 million. He has additionally been ordered to forfeit his curiosity within the Bitcoin Fog pockets, which at present holds 1,345 bitcoin ($103 million).
“Roman Sterlingov laundered over $400 million in legal proceeds by way of Bitcoin Fog, his cryptocurrency ‘mixing’ service that was open for enterprise to criminals seeking to conceal soiled cash,” mentioned Principal Deputy Assistant Lawyer Normal Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the DoJ’s Prison Division.
“By his illicit cash laundering operation, Sterlingov helped criminals launder proceeds of drug trafficking, pc crime, identification theft, and the sexual exploitation of kids.”
The event comes a day after the DoJ additionally sentenced a Nigerian nationwide, a 33-year-old Babatunde Francis Ayeni, to 10 years in federal jail for his function in an enormous cyber fraud conspiracy that claimed over 400 victims within the U.S., resulting in a cumulative lack of almost $20 million.
Ayeni and different conspirators have been “concerned in a complicated enterprise e-mail compromise scheme focusing on actual property transactions in the USA,” it mentioned.
“Over 400 individuals throughout the USA have been victims of the conspiracy. Of those, 231 victims have been unable to reverse the wire transactions in time and misplaced their complete transaction. The collective lack of these 231 victims was $19,599,969.46.”
Final week, the DoJ additionally sentenced Kolade Akinwale Ojelade, a 34-year-old Nigerian man, to greater than 26 years in jail for deceiving potential householders and others out of down funds utilizing an adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) e-mail phishing and spoofing assault that prompted cash transfers to be routed to financial institution accounts beneath his management. The fraudulent operation is estimated to have resulted in losses totaling roughly $12 million.
“Mr. Ojelade despatched phishing emails to actual property companies, gained unauthorized entry to lots of their accounts, and monitored their e-mail visitors to find out when giant transactions have been about to happen,” the DoJ mentioned.
“He then intercepted wire cost directions, modified the knowledge, and resent the emails by way of spoofed e-mail addresses that mimicked the unique senders’ addresses.”
The sentencing additionally follows the arrest of 130 suspects comprising 113 international nationals, primarily of Chinese language and Malaysian origin, and 17 Nigerian collaborators by the Nigeria Police Pressure for his or her “alleged involvement in high-level cybercrimes, hacking, and actions that threaten nationwide safety.”