Federal prosecutors in Miami, Florida have seized about $34M in cryptocurrency as part of the crackdown on drug and financial crimes. This accounts for one of the largest cryptocurrency forfeitures by the United States.
Law authorities detected a South Florida resident using an online pseudonym “raking in millions” selling stolen account information from sites like HBO, Netflix, and Uber on the dark web, according to the US Department of Justice.
To launder the assets, the individual used crypto tumblers, which are services that obscure individual cryptocurrency transactions. This was accomplished by aggregating several crypto transactions and dispersing the proceeds to selected wallets at random intervals and durations.
Law enforcement agents recovered many crypto wallets linked to the South Florida resident’s criminal dark web activity, according to the Department of Justice.
Operation ToRnado
Operation TORnado resulted in the seizure of $34 million in cryptocurrency. The FBI, DEA, and Homeland Security Investigations were among the federal, state, and local law enforcement organizations involved in this investigation. The inquiry is being carried out by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF).
The main goal of the OCDETF, according to the Department of Justice, is to “identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, and other priority transnational criminal organizations that pose a threat to US citizens.”
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitch Hyman and Deputy Chiefs Nicole Grosnoff and Nalina Sombuntham of the Asset Forfeiture Division.
The chief prosecutor for Operation TORnado is Monique Botero, Chief of the Southern District of Florida’s International Money Laundering and Narcotics Section.
