6 months ago
Roman Sterlingov has been recovered blameworthy by a assemblage connected each charges related to the Bitcoin Fog coin mixer, according to a US Department of Justice press release.
Sterlingov was charged with blameworthy of conspiracy, sting wealth laundering, operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and violations of the DC Money Transmitters Act. Together, the charges transportation a maximum of 50 years successful prison.
Bitcoin Fog was crypto mixer oregon tumbler that allowed users to fell their transaction trails connected the blockchain. The work operated betwixt October 2011 and April 2021 and moved much than 1.2 cardinal BTC during its lifetime. The magnitude was worthy much than $400 cardinal astatine the clip of the transactions but is worthy implicit $85 cardinal astatine existent prices.
Based connected the government’s investigation of blockchain enactment and records from crypto exchanges, Sterlingov received millions of dollars successful commissions from operating the service.
Sterlingov plans to appeal
Separate accounts of the proceedings from Bloomberg described a partial absorption connected the service’s creation. Prosecutors explained however Sterlingov paid for Bitcoin Fog’s domain sanction and said helium appeared to trial the work with tiny transactions earlier it began to run publicly.
Sterlingov denied that helium operated the work successful his testimony. He alternatively claimed that helium created Bitcoin Fog’s domain sanction connected behalf of a lawsuit portion freelancing for a selling and web firm. He admitted to utilizing Bitcoin Fog but did not cod fees from the service.
His lawyer, Tom Ekeland, added that nary eyewitness accounts oregon server logs supply grounds that his lawsuit operated the service.
Sterlingov and Ekeland program to entreaty the result. In a connection to Bloomberg, Ekeland called the verdict “disappointing” and described the existent signifier of proceedings arsenic the “halfway point.”
In February, the lawsuit took a notable crook erstwhile prosecutors brought the antecedently convicted Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein arsenic a witnesser against Sterlingov. Lichtenstein testified that helium did not cognize oregon pass with Sterlingov straight and said helium lone minimally utilized Bitcoin Fog.
The station Bitcoin Fog coin mixer relation Roman Sterlingov recovered blameworthy successful assemblage trial appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.
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