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Latvian state police seized around €110,000 ($126K) in cryptoassets following the bust of a cybercrime ring.
According to a release published by the Latvian government, state police apprehended a group of cybercriminals leading to the seizure of crypto-assets belonging to the perpetrators. The report claims officials from the Cybercrime Division of the Economic Crime Department (ENAP) were responsible for the bust, leading to the arrest of three individuals.
ENAP authorities initiated a criminal proceeding in February against the cybercrime ring in connection to “large-scale money laundering.” The report claims the group was operating locally in the territory of Latvia, despite targeting illegal efforts abroad, including engaging in fraudulent activities on platforms such as eBay, PayPal, and Booking.com.
The report continues, saying the cybercrime ring was responsible for purchasing personal data and compromised email passwords from darknet marketplaces for the purposes of gaining access to victims’ electronic payments accounts.
The fraudsters were able to launder the money outside of Latvia through the use of “movable and immovable property,” gold, and cryptocurrency. While the majority of victims were determined to be individuals outside of Latvia, the report claims the cybercrime ring may have defrauded more than one thousand individuals from Western Europe and North America.
In accordance with Section 195, Paragraph three of Latvia’s Criminal Law, the accused face a term of three to twelve years in prison if convicted of large-scale money laundering.
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