U.S. authorities charged Maryland resident Ryan Faras, who was convicted of drug trafficking via the dark web, with laundering funds through cryptocurrency while in prison. The The Baltimore Sun reports.
In 2018 Faras and his father were sentenced to 57 months in federal prison. The court постановил forfeiture of $5.6 million in cash, property and 4,000 BTC.
“Faras was also ordered to forfeit assets seized by law enforcement during searches, including approximately $1.5 million in cash and 1,100 BTC,” the U.S. DOJ statement said.
According to the new indictment, Faras and his father laundered proceeds from drug trafficking from October 2019 to April 2021.
During the investigation into the new indictment, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized 2,875 BTC in February and another 59 BTC in May of this year. As of writing, this amount is equivalent to nearly $140 million.
Whether the bitcoins belonged to Faras earlier, but the authorities were unaware of them, or whether he acquired them somehow in prison, is not disclosed.
In April, U.S. authorities arrested the alleged operator of the Bitcoin Fog Bitcoin mixing service, Roman Sterlingov. His charged with laundering nearly $336 million through cryptocurrency and providing payment services without a licence.
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