The US Department of Justice confiscated $150 million in crypto assets in the case of drug trafficking on the darknet

[Brother]

The Southern District of Ohio court found an Indian citizen guilty of selling prohibited psychotropic substances on darknet trading platforms and confiscated $150 million in crypto assets to the state.

According to court documents, from 2012 to 2018, Indian citizen Banmeet Singh provided intermediary services for the purchase of narcotic drugs on darknet trading platforms such as Silk Road, Alpha Bay, Hansa and others. For his services, Singh received payment in cryptocurrency.

Clients ordered illegal psychotropic substances from Singh. Singh then personally supervised their delivery from Europe to the United States via USPS or other express delivery services. In April 2019, Singh was arrested in London, and in 2023, the United States secured his extradition.

“Banmeet Singh operated a global darknet enterprise shipping dangerous psychotropic substances to communities across America. Participants often signed their drug orders with the signature phrase: “I’m still dancing.” Today, with Bunmeet Singh found guilty and sentenced, this deadly dance is over,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Kenneth Parker.

Singh pleaded guilty to creating darknet companies to distribute illegal substances and laundering criminal proceeds. He faces a sentence of 8 years in prison and confiscation of $150 million in crypto assets.

 

[Brother]

In a historic court case, US authorities seized more than $150 million worth of cryptocurrency from Indian citizen Banmit Singh, who pleaded guilty to selling hundreds of kilograms of drugs over the Internet. The case was the largest seizure of cryptocurrency/cash in a single case conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the United States.

Singh has been the head of an international organized crime group since 2012. Singh has been the head of an international organized crime group since 2012. According to court documents, Singh, 40, created vendor marketing websites on darknet marketplaces such as Silk Road, Alpha Bay, Hansa and others to sell drugs.

From mid-2012 to July 2017, Singh controlled at least 8 "distribution centers" in the United States. The syndicate received shipments of drugs from abroad, which were then repackaged and distributed to regions, in particular, in the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, Jamaica, Scotland and the US Virgin Islands. Customers ordered drugs from Singh, using the websites of suppliers and paying with cryptocurrency. Singh then personally dispatched or arranged for the delivery of substances from Europe to the United States by mail or other delivery services.

Singh was arrested in April 2019 at his home in Coventry, UK, and extradited to the US in March 2023 after failing to challenge the extradition through the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

After Singh's arrest, several cold wallets and seed phrases for restoring cryptocurrency accounts were discovered, which became key evidence in the case against Singh. As part of the plea agreement, Singh handed over the proceeds of crime and now faces an agreed sentence of 8 years in prison.

On the same day Singh pleaded guilty, three former employees of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were convicted of participating in a conspiracy to steal software and databases of the US government. The trio is accused of illegally obtaining data on more than 200,000 government employees, which was then passed on to software developers in India.

The harshest sentence was handed down to the former Acting Inspector General of DHS (Charles K. Smith). Edwards, 63) – 18 months in prison. The second person involved in the case (Sonal Patel, 49), a DHS IT specialist, received 2 years of probation. A third convict (Murali I. Venkata, 58), a DHS IT specialist, was also found guilty of destroying incriminating evidence after learning of the authorities ' investigation. He was sentenced to 4 months in prison.

Conspiracy to rob and defraud the U.S. government was just one of the charges brought against Edwards during his time at DHS. Whistleblowers who spoke in 2013 alleged that he violated his agency's own ethical standards by changing and delaying an investigation into the actions of US Secret Service agents who hire sex workers.

Edwards also allegedly used DHS funds for a personal trip to South Florida to attend classes to work toward his doctoral degree, as well as forcing employees to do his coursework on his behalf. Moreover, Edwards allegedly violated anti-nepotism laws by hiring his wife as a supervisor and then allowing her to work remotely from India for 7 months.