Bitcoin Fog Founder Sentenced to 12 Years for Cryptocurrency Money Laundering

The 36-year-old founder of the Bitcoin Fog cryptocurrency mixer has been sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison for facilitating money laundering activities between 2011 and 2021.

Roman Sterlingov, a dual Russian-Swedish national, pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business earlier this March.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) described Bitcoin Fog as the darknet's longest-running cryptocurrency mixer, allowing cybercriminals to conceal the source of their cryptocurrency proceeds.

"Over the course of its decade-long operation, Bitcoin Fog gained notoriety as a go-to money laundering service for criminals seeking to hide their illicit proceeds from law enforcement and processed transactions involving over 1.2 million bitcoin, valued at approximately $400 million at the time the transactions occurred," the DoJ said.

"The bulk of this cryptocurrency came from darknet marketplaces and was tied to illegal narcotics, computer crimes, identity theft, and child sexual abuse material."

In addition to the jail term, Sterlingov has been sentenced to forfeit $395.56 million, as well as seized cryptocurrencies and monetary assets valued at approximately $1.76 million. He has also been ordered to forfeit his interest in the Bitcoin Fog wallet, which currently holds 1,345 bitcoin ($103 million).

"Roman Sterlingov laundered over $400 million in criminal proceeds through Bitcoin Fog, his cryptocurrency 'mixing' service that was open for business to criminals looking to hide dirty money," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the DoJ's Criminal Division.

"Through his illicit money laundering operation, Sterlingov helped criminals launder proceeds of drug trafficking, computer crime, identity theft, and the sexual exploitation of children."

The development comes a day after the DoJ also sentenced a Nigerian national, a 33-year-old Babatunde Francis Ayeni, to ten years in federal prison for his role in a massive cyber fraud conspiracy that claimed over 400 victims in the U.S., leading to a cumulative loss of nearly $20 million.

Ayeni and other conspirators were "involved in a sophisticated business email compromise scheme targeting real estate transactions in the United States," it said.

"Over 400 people across the United States were victims of the conspiracy. Of these, 231 victims were unable to reverse the wire transactions in time and lost their entire transaction. The collective loss of these 231 victims was $19,599,969.46."

Last week, the DoJ also sentenced Kolade Akinwale Ojelade, a 34-year-old Nigerian man, to more than 26 years in prison for deceiving prospective homeowners and others out of down payments using an adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) email phishing and spoofing attack that caused money transfers to be routed to bank accounts under his control. The fraudulent operation is estimated to have resulted in losses totaling approximately $12 million.

"Mr. Ojelade sent phishing emails to real estate businesses, gained unauthorized access to many of their accounts, and monitored their email traffic to determine when large transactions were about to take place," the DoJ said.

"He then intercepted wire payment instructions, changed the information, and resent the emails via spoofed email addresses that mimicked the original senders’ addresses."

The sentencing also follows the arrest of 130 suspects comprising 113 foreign nationals, mainly of Chinese and Malaysian origin, and 17 Nigerian collaborators by the Nigeria Police Force for their "alleged involvement in high-level cybercrimes, hacking, and activities that threaten national security."