The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has officially seized more than $400 million in cryptocurrencies, real estate, and cash linked to the Helix Bitcoin Mixer. The forfeiture was finalized in late January 2026, concluding years of litigation against Helix’s operator, Larry Dean Harmon. Helix’s Illegal Activity and Harmon’s Case Helix, which operated from 2014 to […]
Online gambling platforms linked to sanctioned guarantee networks have processed over 414 million USDT in revenue in less than two months, with millions flowing directly to major cryptocurrency exchanges. New data from blockchain intelligence firm Bitrace shows how these operations continue at scale despite recent law enforcement actions against their payment providers. Gambling Platforms Keep […]
Authorities have handed a five-year prison sentence to the co-founder of the crypto mixing platform Samourai Wallet following their guilty plea. This development has sparked a debate over the line between privacy and crime in the digital asset space. Crypto Privacy Debate U.S. District Judge Denise Cote sentenced Keonne Rodriguez for conspiring to operate an […]
The Turkish government is drafting legislation to expand the powers of its financial crime watchdog, Masak, allowing it to freeze and restrict access to bank and cryptocurrency accounts. The bill is designed to curb money laundering, fraud, and “rented” accounts used for illegal betting, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing anonymous sources. Intergovernmental watchdog, the Financial […]
Paxos has agreed to pay $48.5 million to the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). This is to resolve allegations related to inadequate due diligence on its former partner, Binance, and failures in its anti-money laundering program. NYDFS Probe Finds Paxos Lacked Oversight According to an August 7 press release, the terms of the […]
Samourai Wallet co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill have decided to plead guilty to charges related to their mixer service. The pair had previously denied guilt in April 2024 and had made several attempts to have their lawsuit dropped. Pleas Changed on Wednesday According to court documents shared earlier in the week, the executives agreed […]
Carl Erik Rinsch, the director of “47 Ronin,” was arrested on March 18 in West Hollywood, California, after being indicted for wire fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors allege that he misused $11 million from a major streaming service, meant for his science fiction television series “White Horse,” on crypto trading. The $11M Fraud According to […]
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced sanctions against Behrouz Parsarad for running Nemesis, a darknet marketplace that sold illegal drugs. As part of these actions, OFAC has also blacklisted 49 crypto addresses, including 44 for Bitcoin and 5 for Monero, connected to the operation. Founder Accused of […]
Russian national Alexander Vinnik, previously convicted for running a multi-billion-dollar money-laundering operation through his BTC-e crypto exchange, has been released in a prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States. In return, Moscow freed American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who had been detained on drug charges. Vinnik’s Role in BTC-e and Legal Troubles Vinnik operated the […]
Spanish law enforcement, in partnership with blockchain firms Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs, has frozen $26.4 million in cryptocurrency linked to a money laundering network operating across Europe. The operation was carried out by the T3 Financial Crime Unit, an initiative formed in August 2024 by the three companies to combat illicit financial activities. The […]