The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
May 29, 2013

Online Currency Site Indicted for "Staggering" Money Laundering 
----------------------------------------------------------------


 
Federal prosecutors have indicted the operators of the digital currency
exchange Liberty Reserve for what they say could be the largest money
laundering scheme in U.S. history. The Costa Rica-based firm is accused
of helping criminals worldwide launder more than $6 billion in illicit
funds. Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New
York, unveiled the charges.

Preet Bharara: "Liberty Reserve was intentionally created and structured
to facilitate criminal activity. It was essentially a black market bank.
As alleged, Liberty Reserve deliberately operated in a way to attract
and aid criminals who wished to use digital currency to break the law
and to launder the proceeds of their crimes, serious crimes including
credit card fraud, identity theft, investment fraud, computer hacking,
child pornography and even narcotics trafficking. All told, Liberty
Reserve allegedly processed 55 million separate financial transactions
and laundered a staggering $6 billion dollars in criminal proceeds."

Five of the seven suspects have been arrested so far, including two who
will likely face extradition proceedings from Spain.

 

.