Reports That Bitcoin Creator is an International Drug and Arms Dealer Resurface
Evan Ratliff, the author of the book The Mastermind, shares his research on Paul Le Roux, who he believes could be the man behind Bitcoin. Ratliff has pieced together the evidence but admits he fits a story into a narrative, conceding that Satoshi Nakamoto is probably someone else entirely. The mystery surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto is […]
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A Michigan man has been indicted for allegedly using bitcoin to buy and sell illegal gun components on the dark web. Benjamin James Cance, from Plainwell, is facing charges for shipping illegal arms, possession of an unregistered machine gun and money laundering. Cance appeared before Magistrate Judge Phillip J Green yesterday and pleaded not guilty. He has since been released on bond and is awaiting trial, although no official date has been set. International arms shipment is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, whereas the maximum penalty for money laundering and possession of a....
Convicted dark web vendor Chrissano Leslie, 26, was sentenced last Tuesday and will likely be deported after his release. His defense framed him not as a big drug trafficker, but a street-level dealer who just so happened to sell heroin, fentanyl and other drugs thanks to the dark web. Prosecutors portrayed Leslie as standing on a high tech street corner on a sophisticated online marketplace they called “an anonymous eBay” for criminals. Senior U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley said he was concerned with a recent spike in heroin and fentanyl abuse. “People are overdosing and dying,”....
Benjamin James Cance, who has been charged for shipping illegal arms, possession of an unregistered weapon, and money laundering, allegedly used bitcoin to facilitate transactions. Bitcoin payments are typically untraceable, as the verification process is done by a network of computers solving complex algorithms to update the distributed public ledger called blockchain. This isn't the first time that the cryptocurrency has been involved in illegal dealings, as it has been the currency of choice in the now-defunct Silk Road or underground marketplace in the Dark Net. Bitcoin for Illegal....
Following the arrest, two years ago, of a Silk Road drug dealer living in Melbourne, Victoria authorities announced the planned sale of the $9.6 million worth chunk of the digital currency seized during the investigation. The Australian citizen, Richard Pollard, was sentenced on Friday to 11 years jail time after pleading guilty to commercial trafficking, accompanied by a non-parole period of seven years and four months. The 325 days he already served in custody will be subtracted from the total. The two houses belonging to the 32 years old man were raided in late 2012, in accordance with....
Local Government authorities in Victoria, Australia announced today they are looking to sell US$7.1m worth of bitcoins on the open market in the coming months. The 24,500 BTC were confiscated from a Melbourne drug dealer named Richard Pollard, who was sentenced in October 2014, to 11 years' jail after pleading guilty to commercial trafficking. The bitcoins were seized by the state's Asset Confiscation Operations (ACO) in late-2013 but the agency had to wait until the man's case had been heard in the court system. An ACO spokesperson confirmed it has taken possessions of the 24,500 BTC and....