American court sentenced the creator of the largest darknet service for laundering bitcoins. Roman Sterling, a 36-year-old with Russian and Swedish citizenship, has been sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison.
Over a span of ten years, from 2011 to 2021, Sterling controlled Bitcoin Fog, the longest-operating cryptocurrency mixer in the darknet. The service facilitated the laundering of over 1.2 million bitcoins, valued at approximately $400 million during its operations.
A majority of the funds laundered through Bitcoin Fog were traced back to Darknet trading platforms associated with illegal activities such as drug trafficking, cybercrimes, identity theft, and child exploitation.
Following a month-long trial in March 2024, Sterling was found guilty on multiple charges including money laundering conspiracy, money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transfer business, and conducting money transfers without a license in the District of Columbia.
In addition to the prison sentence, the court has imposed a fine of $395,563,025.39 on Sterling. Cryptocurrencies and monetary assets worth approximately $1.76 million are also set to be confiscated.
The authorities seized a Bitcoin Fog wallet containing 1.345 bitcoins from Sterling, valued at over $103 million currently.
The US Tax Service’s Criminal Investigations Department head, Guy Fikko, highlighted that Sterling’s attempt to conceal his illicit activities under the veil of anonymity was thwarted by the coordinated efforts of investigators, with support from US and FBI tax service agents, the US Department of Justice’s International Affairs Division, and the FBI’s virtual assets unit.
Law enforcement agencies from Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Romania, and Great Britain, along with Europol, aided in the investigation.