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Expert Taught Cops How to Fight Crypto Crime and Ran a $100 Million Drug Market: DOJ
Down Angle Icon An icon shaped like a downward pointing angle. A man uses his laptop to access the dark web. seksan Mongkhonkhamsao/Getty Images
- A Taiwanese crypto expert is accused of running a $100 million drug deal on the dark web.
- The feds say he exploited the drug market and blackmailed his users during his final days.
- Just two months ago, he gave a lesson to the police on tracking cryptocurrencies and fighting cybercrime.
A 23-year-old Taiwanese man crypto expert known for having published his qualifications on LinkedInworking in an embassy and lecturing police officers on cybercrime, may have led a questionable double life.
Lin Rui-siang is accused of having managed a fortune of 100 million dollars. drug market on the dark webattempting to blackmail its users and telling others how to evade anti-money laundering investigators.
According to the Ministry of JusticeLin was arrested Monday at John F. Kennedy Airport and charged with engaging in a continuing criminal conspiracy, narcotics conspiracy, conspiracy to sell adulterated and misbranded drugs and money laundering.
Federal prosecutors say he owned and operated Incognito Market, a dark web drug marketplace selling heroin, cocaine, oxycodone, and other illicit substances.
According to CABLEwho was the first to talk about it, two months ago Lin led a course for the Saint Lucia Police called “Cybercrime and Cryptocurrency” on how to trace cryptocurrency.
In April, the government of Saint Lucia issued a press release praising the four-day course, sponsored by the Taiwanese government, which 30 members of the police force took.
The press release said Lin “used his professional experience and qualifications in the field” to help the Royal Saint Lucia Police strengthen its capabilities in combating cybercrime.
Although this likely refers to Lin’s role as a diplomatic IT specialist at the Taiwan Embassy, the Justice Department alleges that his cybercrime expertise had more nefarious origins.
Since Incognito Market launched in October 2020 and closed in March of this year, the market has sold more than $100 million worth of narcotics, the Justice Department said. The DoJ said Lin used the aliases “Pharoah” and “faro.”
According to the Department of Justice, the website had its own “bank” to facilitate transactions, which allowed users to deposit funds. cryptocurrency.
In a criminal complaint against Lin, an FBI investigator said customers and suppliers used Monero, which uses privacy-enhancing technologies, and Bitcoin.
THE charge claims Lin closed the drug market around March and refused to return money stored in the “bank” to sellers and customers.
He also said he threatened to release users’ transaction history unless they paid a fee.
According to the indictment, a message on the website’s home page read: “YES, THIS IS EXTORTION!!!”
WIRED reported that Lin also operated a web service called Antinalysis, which charged users a fee to check whether their crypto could be linked to criminal transactions.
The outlet said “Pharoah” posted on a dark web market forum that its goal was to help users evade anti-money laundering investigators.
If convicted, Lin faces life in prison.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Food and Drug Administration Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the New York Police Department.
“This arrest highlights law enforcement’s dedicated and ongoing efforts to identify and dismantle illicit drug rings operating from every corner of the market,” said New York Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban. said in a report.