Cryptocurrency Enforcement Actions Continue In US, Turkey And South Korea

B
BakerHostetler

Contributor

BakerHostetler logo
Recognized as one of the top firms for client service, BakerHostetler is a leading national law firm that helps clients around the world address their most complex and critical business and regulatory issues. With five core national practice groups — Business, Labor and Employment, Intellectual Property, Litigation, and Tax — the firm has more than 970 lawyers located in 14 offices coast to coast. BakerHostetler is widely regarded as having one of the country’s top 10 tax practices, a nationally recognized litigation practice, an award-winning data privacy practice and an industry-leading business practice. The firm is also recognized internationally for its groundbreaking work recovering more than $13 billion in the Madoff Recovery Initiative, representing the SIPA Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. Visit bakerlaw.com
Earlier this week, U.S. officials arrested Roman Sterlingov in connection with his running Bitcoin Fog, a cryptocurrency mixing service, or "tumbler," that obscures the source of cryptocurrencies.
Worldwide Technology

Earlier this week, U.S. officials arrested Roman Sterlingov in connection with his running Bitcoin Fog, a cryptocurrency mixing service, or "tumbler," that obscures the source of cryptocurrencies. The criminal charges include unlicensed money transmission and money laundering. According to the government, Bitcoin Fog, over the course of its decade-long operation, moved over 1.2 million bitcoin - valued at approximately $335 million at the time of the transactions - most of which came from darknet marketplaces and was tied to illegal narcotics, computer fraud and abuse activities, and identity theft. Also this week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Eric Meiggs pled guilty to conducting a scheme involving "SIM-swapping," i.e., obtaining victims' cell phone numbers and SIM cards by lying to their phone carriers and tricking them into transferring the data and cards. According to the government, once Meiggs and his co-conspirators stole the phone numbers and SIM cards they were able to hack into various victim accounts and steal more than $530,000 in cryptocurrencies.

Late last week, Turkish officials detained dozens of people as part of an investigation into Thodex, a Turkish cryptocurrency platform accused of fraud, which froze user accounts and whose founder and CEO, Faruk Fatih Ozer, had gone into hiding at the beginning of the controversy - allegedly taking billions of dollars' worth of user funds with him. Ozer has since resurfaced in Albania, and Turkey is reportedly working with Interpol to arrest him. The Thodex case comes on the heels of Turkey's announcement, made earlier this month, that it was banning the use of cryptocurrencies for payments. According to reports, the Turkish government is currently contemplating new regulations for the cryptocurrency industry.

In South Korea, tax officials have reportedly begun an initiative aimed at individuals who have been hiding assets using cryptocurrencies. According to recent reports, government officials recently seized approximately $22 million in cryptocurrencies from exchange accounts of 676 alleged tax offenders.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Mondaq uses cookies on this website. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies as set out in our Privacy Policy.

Learn More