The jury found Russian Roman Sterlingov involved in managing the Bitcoin Fog cryptomixer and laundering more than $400 million, including $78 million related to darknet markets. This is reported by Bloomberg.
US authorities arrested the alleged operator of a bitcoin mixing service in April 2021. Sterling's sentence will be announced on July 15, and he faces up to 20 years in prison.
He is charged with conspiracy to launder money, money laundering and two counts related to the organization of an unregistered money transfer service. The defendant pleaded not guilty.
"The defendant organized the entire operation to help criminals hide their assets," said Prosecutor Catherine Pelker.
According to her, from the collected evidence base, it is clear that Sterling played an important role in the creation of Bitcoin Fog.
Defence lawyer Tor Ekeland described the verdict as "disappointing" and said he was preparing to appeal.
During the month-long trial, prosecutors showed the jury how the government tracked the flow of cryptocurrencies from darknet resources through Bitcoin Fog. They also highlighted the multi-step process that Google allegedly used to pay for the Bitcoin Fog domain name more than a decade ago.
The authorities were able to detect several transactions for a small amount from 2011, which were made from an account registered in the name of Sterling. According to investigators, the accused used the funds to test the cryptomixer.
Most of the findings were based on the Chainalysis study. Earlier, the defense tried to challenge the evidence collected by the company.
Ekland stressed that the government did not find any mention of Bitcoin Fog on Sterling's electronic devices or laptops. He also challenged the logic of the process of financing the service presented to the court by his client.
"It's still only half way. [ ... ] There is no evidence that Sterling managed Bitcoin Fog, " the lawyer stressed.
Additionally, the court interviewed Ilya Lichtenstein, who is accused of laundering billions of dollars ' worth of bitcoins related to the hacking of the Bitfinex exchange, and Larry Harmon, who confessed to managing the Helix cryptomixer. Both witnesses stated that they did not know Sterling.
• Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-convicted-of-money-laundering-on-bitcoin-fog
US authorities arrested the alleged operator of a bitcoin mixing service in April 2021. Sterling's sentence will be announced on July 15, and he faces up to 20 years in prison.
He is charged with conspiracy to launder money, money laundering and two counts related to the organization of an unregistered money transfer service. The defendant pleaded not guilty.
"The defendant organized the entire operation to help criminals hide their assets," said Prosecutor Catherine Pelker.
According to her, from the collected evidence base, it is clear that Sterling played an important role in the creation of Bitcoin Fog.
Defence lawyer Tor Ekeland described the verdict as "disappointing" and said he was preparing to appeal.
During the month-long trial, prosecutors showed the jury how the government tracked the flow of cryptocurrencies from darknet resources through Bitcoin Fog. They also highlighted the multi-step process that Google allegedly used to pay for the Bitcoin Fog domain name more than a decade ago.
The authorities were able to detect several transactions for a small amount from 2011, which were made from an account registered in the name of Sterling. According to investigators, the accused used the funds to test the cryptomixer.
Most of the findings were based on the Chainalysis study. Earlier, the defense tried to challenge the evidence collected by the company.
Ekland stressed that the government did not find any mention of Bitcoin Fog on Sterling's electronic devices or laptops. He also challenged the logic of the process of financing the service presented to the court by his client.
"It's still only half way. [ ... ] There is no evidence that Sterling managed Bitcoin Fog, " the lawyer stressed.
Additionally, the court interviewed Ilya Lichtenstein, who is accused of laundering billions of dollars ' worth of bitcoins related to the hacking of the Bitfinex exchange, and Larry Harmon, who confessed to managing the Helix cryptomixer. Both witnesses stated that they did not know Sterling.
• Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-convicted-of-money-laundering-on-bitcoin-fog
