Bitcoin exchange boss going down for washing ransomware cash

library
crime | hacking | security

A Florida ex-school board member has pled guilty to making a false statement in relation to the running of an illegal bitcoin exchange.

The FBI says Anthony Murgio and Yuri Lebedev ran Coin.mx as an unlicensed currency exchange, cloaking transactions including facilitating ransomware payouts as “collectable memorabilia” and dubbing the business the “Collectables Club.”

Coin.mx was owned by Israeli Gery Shalon, a man linked to a huge hacking operation that compromised the likes of JPMorgan Chase along with the personal data of more than 100 million people.

The Department of Justice says the pair paid US$150,000 to gain board of directors seats on the HOPE Credit Union.

Prior to its liquidation in October 2015, HOPE was used to facilitate coin.mx transactions, it is claimed.

Local media report Murgio admitted to making a false statement to the National Credit Union Administration following a plea agreement. He admitted his statement on the physical address of Collectables Club was falsified such that it could participate in the HOPE credit union.

He faces up to 16 months in a US federal prison when he is sentenced January 27.

Murgio was charged along with his son Anthony Murgio and Lebedev. ®