International law enforcement agencies have recently made multiple arrests over a criminal crypto exchange. The suspects are alleged to have used the platform to facilitate illegal payments, permitted the laundering of funds, and conducted exchange transactions in contravention of international law. The arrests come as part of a cross-border operation coordinated by law enforcement in the United States, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France.
The exchange, identified as the “Chaos” Crypto Exchange, operated on the dark web and allowed customers to anonymously buy and sell currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum with fiat currency. Reports suggest that since the exchange was established in 2018, it has processed more that $200 million in illegal transactions.
“By infiltrating and disrupting this anonymous network of criminals, we have undermined an important source of illicit finance that criminals across the world were exploiting.” said Bruce Ohr, Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, who coordinated the international operation.
Law enforcement agencies acted on information obtained in the investigations to execute a series of warrants in the United States, seizing large amounts of cryptocurrency and money. Moreover, international police forces arrested seven major suspects in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France.
The investigation revealed that the suspects employed multiple tactics to evade law enforcement and launder money, including using virtual private networks and Tor to hide their activity.
This significant international operation is a major blow to criminals using cryptocurrency to facilitate illegal activities and launder money. Law enforcement agencies across the world are continuing to work together to shut down criminal crypto exchanges and bring the individuals responsible to justice.
This Cyber News was published on www.securityweek.com. Publication date: Sun, 22 Jan 2023 10:48:00 +0000