A man in Ohio has pleaded guilty to a money-laundering conspiracy by moving more than $300 million worth of bitcoin. The cryptocurrency was transferred to help users, which included drug traffickers, hide where the source of their cryptocurrency came from.
Listen to your favorite News/Talk station now on Audacy.
The launderer, Larry Dean Harmon of Akron, agreed as part of his plea in Washington D.C. federal court to surrender more than 4,400 bitcoin, according to the Justice Department. With the current value of the coin priced around $44,600, this would put the total amount Harmon is surrendering at the $200 million mark.
Related
During his criminal activity, the 36-year-old lived in the nation of Belize. But, now back in the states, he faces an assessment of $60 million in civil monetary penalty from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, CNBC reported.
The maximum prison sentence that Harmon can receive is 20 years, along with fines of hundreds of millions of dollars, though the sentencing has yet to be scheduled.
As part of his guilty plea, Harmon admitted that his Darknet-based Helix service had partnered with several other Darknet markets. This included AlphaBay, Evolution, and Cloud 9. Through these markets, Harmon was able to provide bitcoin money-laundering services for customers.
The Darknet is a collection of websites that do not appear from regular search engines and web browsers. It has become associated with criminals and illegal services.
"The Darknet is driven in part by the criminal marketplaces which peddle their nefarious goods and services," James Lee, chief of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, said to CNBC.
Related
Harmon ran Helix from 2014 through 2017. The service was known as a "mixer" or "tumbler" of bitcoin. Helix would send bitcoin to recipients in a way that hid who was sending the coin, for a fee, of course.
Helix was linked with and associated with a Darknet search called "Grams." This was also run by Harmon, who would advertise "Helix to customers on the Darknet to conceal transactions from law enforcement," the Justice Department said.
According to the prosecutors on the case, over 350,000 bitcoin, valued at over $300 million, were moved through Helix. The most significant volume was coming from Darknet markets.
Related
Harmon also admitted that he conspired "with Darknet vendors and marketplace administrators to launder such bitcoins generated through illegal drug trafficking offenses on those Darknet marketplaces," according to the department.
"These marketplaces thrive in large measure because of the infrastructure that supports them," Lee said. "Harmon profited by facilitating the back-channel support of these marketplaces and helped criminals launder money they received via illicit activities."
The Justice Department said to CNBC that the case was investigated by the IRS's Cyber Crimes Unit. The FBI's Washington Field Office was also involved with the assistance of other federal entities.