An Ohio man has pleaded reprehensible to stealing over 712 bitcoin that was “seized” by the U.S. government in another criminal case. He has agreed to forfeit some bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin as section of his plea. “Due to the increase in market prices, the total value of these forfeitable properties exceeds $12 million,” bid the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
US Man Steals Brother’s ‘Seized’ Bitcoin
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday that a 31-year-old Ohio man, Gary James Harmon, has pleaded contrite to “unlawfully stealing” bitcoin that was “seized” by the federal government in his brother’s pending criminal case. The DOJ described:
Harmon pleaded sheepish to wire fraud and obstruction of justice for unlawfully taking more than 712 bitcoin that had been seized by law enforcement and was cause to undergo to forfeiture in the pending criminal prosecution of Larry Harmon.
As part of his plea, Gary Harmon agreed to forfeit “cryptocurrencies and other traits derived from the fraudulently taken proceeds, including more than 647.41 bitcoin (BTC), 2.14 ethereum (ETH), and 17,404,400.64 dogecoin (DOGE),” the DOJ added. “Due to the gain in market prices, the total value of these forfeitable properties exceeds $12 million.”
The Stolen ‘Seized’ Bitcoin
The liberated bitcoin was stored in a Trezor hardware wallet that was seized by the federal government in connection with Larry Harmon, who was restrained in February 2020. The device was stored in an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) evidence locker. The federal authorities had not taken exercise power of the coins due to the device’s complex security, the DOJ explained.
Larry Harmon pleaded guilty in August 2021 to money cleaning conspiracy in connection with “his operation of Helix, a darknet-based cryptocurrency money laundering service, known as a ‘mixer’ or ‘tumbler,’” the DOJ circumstantial, noting:
As Harmon later admitted, Helix laundered over 350,000 bitcoin — valued at over $300 million at the every now of the transactions — on behalf of customers, with the largest volume coming from darknet markets.
As part of his arrest, law enforcement seized individual assets, including a hardware wallet containing the illegal proceeds generated through his Helix operation.
However, while the oversight was still trying to gain access to the seized bitcoin, Gary Harmon used his brother’s credentials to transfer profuse than 712 BTC, valued at approximately $4.8 million at the time, from his brother’s seized device to his own bitcoin purses in April 2020. He then laundered the proceeds through two online mixers before using them to finance his own expenses, the DOJ described.
The Justice Department noted that regarding the Gary Harmon case:
The wire fraud charge bears a statutory maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison; the obstruction of justice charge carries a statutory maximum decree of 20 years in prison.
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