12 years later, the US Department of Justice has closed in on alleged culprits of the unfriendly Mt. Gox hack.
Key Takeaways
- The U.S. DOJ has charged two Russian nationals for their connection to the Mt. Gox hack of 2011.
- Both suspects will be charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering in the Southern District of Contemporary York.
- One suspect is charged with money laundering conspiracy and working an unlicensed money companies industry in the Northern District of California.
Alexey Bilyuchenko, 43, and Aleksandr Verner, 29, each Russian nationals, occupy been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with the 2011 hacking of essential cryptocurrency alternate Mt. Gox and the illicit operation of one more crypto alternate called BTC-e.
The 2011 heist ended in Mt. Gox’s eventual insolvency in 2014.
The charges filed by the Southern District of Contemporary York encompass conspiracy to commit money laundering towards each defendants, while the Northern District of California has additionally charged Bilyuchenko with money laundering conspiracy and working an unlicensed money companies industry.
These charges demonstrate a complicated, years-long operation that spanned a number of continents and provocative the theft and laundering of roughly 647,000 BTC from Mt. Gox customers. U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey for the Northern District of California said in the clicking release:
“For years, Bilyuchenko and his co-conspirators allegedly operated a digital currency alternate that enabled criminals world wide – including computer hackers, ransomware actors, narcotics rings, and corrupt public officials – to launder billions of bucks.”
The inditement alleges that Bilyuchenko and Verner carried out a predominant hack towards Mt. Gox, the excellent Bitcoin alternate on the time, in September 2011. The exercise of their unauthorized access, they allowed “bitcoin to be transferred from Mt. Gox’s wallets to bitcoin addresses controlled by Bilyuchenko, Verner, and their co-conspirators.” They supposedly laundered more BTC by draw of two assorted on-line exchanges besides to to the 647,000 BTC from Mt. Gox, in line with the DOJ.
Posing as companies of advertising and marketing companies to a Bitcoin brokerage carrier in Contemporary York, the pair allegedly convinced the dealer to switch over $6.6 million to offshore accounts under their retain a watch on from March 2012 to April 2013. In return, the dealer purchased “credit” on an alternate platform, which became outmoded to launder more than 300,000 stolen BTC:
“The faux Advertising Contract with the Contemporary York Bitcoin Broker allegedly enabled Bilyuchenko, Verner, and their co-conspirators to conceal and liquidate bitcoins stolen by draw of the Mt. Gox Hack.”
Bilyuchenko has been accused of joining forces with Alexander Vinnik, a Russian cryptocurrency “money launderer” convicted by the DOJ in 2022, to function the unfriendly BTC-e virtual currency alternate from 2011 till it became closed by law enforcement in 2017. The indictment claims BTC-e became really apt one of the primary realm’s excellent cryptocurrency exchanges, allegedly outmoded as a laundering tool for cyber criminals globally.
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