About 15 defendants have been found guilty for they’re involvement in a crypto-powered auction scam, which runs in millions of dollars, and aimed at defrauding American victims, according to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday. The cryptocurrencies were laundered at that time, through Coinflux exchange.
Two Romanians found guilty of crypto-powered auction scam
Two guilty pleas were made on Thursday by Romanias, Bogdan-Stefan Popescu and Liviu-Sorin Nedelcu, while four others took place over the past 24 days. The defendants knowingly advertised false items such as cars on auctions websites like eBay, as well as sales platforms, particularly Craigslist.
The 30-year-old Popescu helped his co-conspirators to launder ill-gotten funds from the crypto-powered auction scam. He would transfer the cryptocurrencies to Vlad-Călin Nistor to exchange them for cash. Popescu also supplied various tools which they used to run they’re fraudulent business.
Scammers used Coinflux to launder funds
According to the DOJ report, Nistor converted the cryptocurrencies through Coinflux, a Bitcoin exchange based in Romania, despite knowing that the cryptos were proceeds of fraudulent activity. He was the owner of the exchange, and he converted to more then $1.8 million in Bitcoin for Popescu, which are proceeds from the crypto-powered auction scam.
Nedelcu, who pleaded guilty on the same day as Popescu, was involved in distributing fake adverts of goods in conjunction with other co-conspirators for they’re crypto-powered auction scam business. Nedelcu sents falsified invoices from legitimate car sellers like eBay Motors. Once he receives payments, he employs sophisticated strategies to launder the money in Bitcoin.
Brian A. Benczkowski, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, commented:
Today’s modern cybercriminals rely on increasingly sophisticated techniques to defraud victims, often masquerading as legitimate businesses. […] These guilty pleas demonstrate that the United States will hold accountable foreign and domestic criminal enterprises and they’re enablers, including crooked bitcoin exchanges that swindle the American public.
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