The US government agency used the information of a Bitcoin wallet as key evidence to stop a Russian criminal. FBI also used an old exchange account.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently used information related to the activity of a Bitcoin wallet, as well as an old exchange account, to arrest a cybercriminal. These were key pieces of evidence to execute the capture. The name of the detainee is Maksim Boiko, the Russian rapper accused of money laundering conspiracy.

FBI Special Agent Samantha Shelnick gave more details about this case. The agent shared the information during a public statement in early April. Shelnick commented that she and her team used the digital trail to discover a major money-laundering operation.

According to the information that the agents handle, the criminal organization known as QQAAZZ could be responsible for this action. FBI considers that Rapper Maksim Boiko is part of the leaders of this criminal gang.

How Do these Criminals Act?

The FBI used the Bitcoin wallet to find the cybercriminals and obtain the evidence. The capture was possible because QQAAZZ used to exchange fiat money for cryptocurrencies and the FBI tracked the fraudulent operations. In this way, the criminal group tried to cover the origin and destination of the stolen money.

Besides, the FBI’s investigation further determined that QQAAZZ tried to participate in multiple exchanges, including Coinbase and Bitstamp. The criminal group used the username “Atrofi95” to continue committing crimes. However, the US government agency arrested one of the criminals.

NYC Rules Helped Find the Cybercriminal

Because these exchanges work with Know Your Customer (KYC) rules, FBI officials determined that a user tried to operate in Coinbase and Bitstamp using the same email address. Someone named Aleksejs Trofimovics controlled this email account.

According to the FBI statement, Aleksejs Trofimovics regularly kept in touch with other suspicious users through phone numbers associated with Maksim Boiko. Those phones associated with Boiko were used to communicate with Trofimovics, stored various screenshots of coin wallet addresses and transactions of up to USD 35,000.

In a subsequent investigation, the FBI found these types of images in conversations between Boiko and the suspected QQAAZZ members. In this way, the agents linked the cybercriminal with the criminal gang.

Other Pieces of Evidence

Last January, FBI officials suspected Boiko for the first time when he and his wife attempted to enter the United States of America with $ 20,000 in cash. Besides, Boiko had photos on his cell phone that circa 2015 where he was posing with bales of money.

Boiko said the money came from properties in Russia that he had rented, as well as investments he had made in Bitcoin. The FBI also found several conversations between suspected cybercriminals and someone named “gangass”.

In this way, FBI officials linked this pseudonym to Boiko, who used that name in BTC-e, a crypto exchange closed in 2017 for money laundering.

Initially, governments in different countries have feared that cryptocurrencies could be a tool for money laundering. However, these digital assets can work for just the opposite. Like the case of the Russian cybercriminal, this technology would allow arresting more digital criminals. The main objective is to achieve safer and crime-free digital money exchange spaces.

By María Rodríguez

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