Ohio Resident Pleads Guilty To Using Darknet-Based Bitcoin Mixer That Laundered Over $ 300 Million | Takeover bid

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An Ohio man today pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy resulting from his operation of Helix, a Darknet-based cryptocurrency laundering service.

According to court documents, Larry Dean Harmon, 38, of Akron, admitted to mining Helix from 2014 to 2017. Helix functioned as a mixer or cup of bitcoin, allowing customers, for a fee, to send bitcoin. to designated recipients in a manner that has been designed to conceal the source or owner of the bitcoin. Helix was related and associated with Grams, a Darknet search engine also operated by Harmon. Harmon announced Helix to customers on the Darknet to conceal transactions from law enforcement.

Holding Harmon accountable, the department disrupted the illegal money laundering practices of these dangerous criminal enterprises, said Deputy Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice, in collaboration with our law enforcement and regulatory partners, will continue to take enforcement action to identify and prevent those who use illicit means for financial gain, as well as those who use the Darknet to facilitate and disguise their criminal conduct.

Darknet markets and the dealers there selling opioids and other illegal drugs are a growing plague, said Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips for the District of Columbia. They may try to hide their identities and launder millions of sales behind technologies like Helix. But the ministry and its law enforcement partners will shine a light on their activities, dismantle the infrastructure on which these criminal markets depend, and prosecute and convict those responsible.

Criminals may think they can hide financial transactions by using services like Helix to cover up the source of illicit funds, said Deputy Director Calvin A. Shivers of the FBI’s Criminal Investigations Division. The FBI and our state, local, federal and international law enforcement partners work together every day in a complex and ever-changing digital environment to protect the American people from money launderers and sophisticated financiers.

The Darknet is in part fueled by the criminal markets that sell their infamous goods and services, said IRS Criminal Investigation Chief James C. Lee. But these markets thrive in large part because of the infrastructure that supports them. Harmon took advantage of the facilitation of downstream support to these markets and helped criminals launder the money they received through illicit activities. He then hid these funds from the government. He has recognized his role today in these activities and will henceforth be held accountable.

Harmon has admitted to conspiring with Darknet vendors to launder bitcoin generated by drug trafficking and other illegal activities, said deputy director in charge Steven M. DAntuono of the FBI’s Washington field office. Today’s guilty plea demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to infiltrate and shut down the cryptocurrency money laundering networks that support cybercriminal businesses.

Harmon admitted that Helix had partnered with several Darknet marketplaces, including AlphaBay, Evolution, Cloud 9, and others, to provide bitcoin money laundering services to customers in the marketplace. In total, Helix has moved over 350,000 bitcoins worth over $ 300 million at the time of transactions on behalf of clients, with the largest volume coming from Darknet markets. Harmon further admitted that he conspired with Darknet vendors and market administrators to launder those bitcoins generated by illegal drug trafficking offenses in these Darknet markets.

As part of his plea, Harmon also agreed to the confiscation of over 4,400 bitcoins, valued at over $ 200 million at today’s prices, and other seized properties implicated in the money laundering conspiracy. money. Harmon will be sentenced on a date to be determined and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $ 500,000 or double the value of the property involved in the transaction, a supervised release period of up to three years, and mandatory restitution. Chief Justice Beryl Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia has accepted Harmons’ guilty plea and will determine any sentence after considering U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

The IRS-CI Cybercrime Unit and the FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case, with invaluable assistance provided by the Criminal Divisions Bureau of International Affairs, United States Prosecutor’s Office for the Northern Ohio District, the IRS field offices in Washington, Cincinnati, and Oakland. , the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Division and field offices in Cleveland, Newark, and San Francisco, and the Diplomatic Security Service of State Departments.

The Belize Attorney General’s Ministry and the Belize National Police Department provided critical support to the investigation, coordinated by the United States Embassy in Belmopan. action.

Trial Prosecutors S. Riane Harper and C. Alden Pelker of the Criminal Divisions Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant United States Attorney Christopher B. Brown of the United States Prosecutor’s Office for the District of Columbia sued the case. Further assistance was provided by trial attorneys Emily Siedell and Brian Nicholson of the Bureau of International Criminal Divisions, former CCIPS trial attorney W. Joss Nichols and assistant US prosecutor Daniel Riedl of the northern Ohio district.

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