America Division of Justice (DOJ) finalized the forfeiture of over $400 million in cryptocurrency and different property tied to Helix, an early Bitcoin-era darknet mixing service, in keeping with an announcement launched Thursday.
The property have been seized from Larry Harmon, the operator of Helix, which processed transactions between 2014 and 2017. The crypto mixer was designed to obscure the supply and vacation spot of Bitcoin (BTC) that was linked to darknet markets.
The forfeiture follows a Jan. 21 order by the US District Court docket for the District of Columbia, formally transferring possession of the property to the federal government. The ultimate court docket order provides the federal government authorized title to the seized digital property, actual property and monetary property linked to Helix’s operations.
The event marks the authorized endpoint of one of the crucial important early Bitcoin mixer prosecutions to maneuver by way of US courts. The case illustrates how main crypto-related enforcement actions can take years to completely resolve, even after legal conduct has ended.
Helix processed a whole bunch of 1000’s of Bitcoin
In keeping with the DOJ, Helix processed a minimum of 354,468 Bitcoin throughout its operation, value about $300 million on the time of the transactions. Prosecutors linked the exercise to darknet drug markets looking for to launder their unlawful proceeds.
Harmon additionally operated Grams, a search engine designed to assist main darknet markets energetic on the time.
Investigators stated Helix’s software programming interface allowed marketplaces to combine the mixer immediately into their Bitcoin withdrawal techniques, enabling large-scale laundering exercise.
The DOJ stated investigators traced tens of hundreds of thousands from darknet markets to Helix.
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Forfeiture finalized years after sentencing
Harmon was arrested in February 2020 and pleaded responsible in August 2021 to conspiracy to commit cash laundering. He was sentenced in November 2024 to 3 years in jail.
On the time, the court docket ordered Harmon to forfeit property valued at greater than $400 million. Final week’s order finalized the forfeiture, transferring clear authorized title to the US authorities.
As beforehand reported by Cointelegraph, his sentence was decreased after cooperating with investigators, together with testifying within the Bitcoin Fog case towards Roman Sterlingov.
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