Bitcoin Fog Founder Convicted of Money Laundering

The
founder
of
Bitcoin
Fog,
a
long-running
cryptocurrency
mixer,
was
convicted
by
a
federal
jury
in
Washington
on
Tuesday
of
facilitating
the
laundering
of
over
1.2
million
bitcoins

(BTC)
– worth
about
$860
million
at
today’s
prices
– tied
to
darknet
marketplaces.

Roman
Sterlingov,
35,
a
dual
Russian-Swiss
citizen,
was

arrested
at
Los
Angeles
International
Airport
in
April
2021
and
charged
with
money
laundering,
operating
an
unlicensed
money
transmitting
business,
and
money
transmission
without
a
license.
Following
his
arrest,
Sterlingov
was
also
charged
with
conspiring
to
launder
money.

During
his
custody
and
subsequent
trial,
Sterlingov
and
his
lawyers

denied
that
he
ever
operated
or
collected
fees
from
Bitcoin
Fog,
though
he
admitted
to
using
it.
Jurors
did
not
buy
his
proclamations
of
innocence
– after
a
month-long
trial,
he
was
found
guilty
on
all
four
counts.

Sterlingov
is
the
latest
person
tied
to
crypto
mixing
services
to
face
prison,
as

authorities
in
the
U.S.
and
Europe
continue
to
crack
down
on
illicit
crypto
finance.

Two
other
crypto
criminals,
including

Larry
Harmon,
the
former
CEO
of
bitcoin
mixer
Helix,
and
Ilya
Lichtenstein,
who,
along
with
his
wife
Heather
“Razzlekhan”
Morgan,
laundered
$3.6
billion
in
bitcoins
from
the
2016
Bitfinex
hack,
testified
against
Sterlingov
during
his
trial.
Lichtenstein
pleaded
guilty
last
August
and
has
not
yet
been
sentenced
while
Harmon
pleaded
guilty
in
2021,
agreeing
to
forfeit
over
4,400
bitcoins
and
pay
a
fine
of
$60
million.

The
verdict
against
Sterlingov
will
likely
come
up
in
the
trials
against
Tornado
Cash
developers

Alexey
Pertsev
and
Roman
Storm,
which
are
slated
for
this
year
in
the
Netherlands
and
the
U.S.,
respectively.

Sterlingov’s
sentencing
date
has
been
set
for
July
15.
He
faces
up
to
20
years
in
prison
on
the
most
serious
charge.

Tor
Ekeland,
Sterlingov’s
attorney,

tweeted
that
they
would
appeal.