financemagnates.com
The operator of darknet Bitcoin mixer Helix has pleaded guilty in a United States court for the money laundering conspiracy charges brought against him. Through Helix, he moved over 350,000 Bitcoins valued at around $300 million at the time of transactions.
According to the Department of Justice’s official announcement on Wednesday, Larry Dean Harmon admitted that he operated Helix from 2014 to 2017, which functioned as a Bitcoin mixture. It allowed criminals to hide the transaction history of Bitcoins obtained with illegal means.
He admitted Helix’s partnership with several darknet markets, including AlphaBay, Evolution, and Cloud 9, for Bitcoin money-laundering services. He also conspired with dark market vendors and administrators to launder Bitcoins obtained through illegal drug trafficking.
“Harmon admitted that he conspired with Darknet vendors to launder bitcoin generated through drug trafficking and other illegal activities,” said Assistant Director in Charge Steven D’Antuono of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
Harmon now has to forfeit more than 4,400 Bitcoins, worth over $200 million, and also other seized properties, which were involved in running his Bitcoin laundering business.
Two Decades in Prison
He is now looking at a maximum prison time of 20 years, along with a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the illegal transactions. The date of his sentencing, however, has not been scheduled yet.
Apart from the DoJ case against Harmon that was first filed in February, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) also imposed a separate $60 million civil penalty on him for the violations of the Banking Secrecy Act with Helix operations.
The US prosecutors also collaborated with authorities in Belize to build the case against Hermon.
“Today’s guilty plea demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to infiltrate and shut down the cryptocurrency money-laundering networks that support cyber-criminal enterprises,” D’Antuono added.