Roman Sterlingov Faces Two Money Laundering Charges, Each Carrying a Maximum Sentence of 20 Years.
Three years after being arrested, a federal jury has found Roman Sterlingov, the operator of cryptocurrency mixing service Bitcoin Fog, guilty on four counts related to money laundering.
The founder of Bitcoin Fog is facing a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison for all the charges he is facing.
Sterlingov Convicted
According to a press release on March 12, the jury found Roman Sterlingov guilty of conspiracy to launder money. The founder of Bitcoin Fog, a 35-year-old Russian-Swedish national, was also convicted for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and violating the District of Columbia Money Trasmission Act.
Bitcoin Fog, which existed for a decade from 2011 to 2021, was used as a money laundering tool for criminals looking to anonymize their ill-gotten funds.
During its operation, the cryptocurrency mixing tool processed over 1.2 million Bitcoins, worth nearly $400 million at the time and valued at around $88 billion based on the current BTC price.
The largest clientele of Bitcoin Fog were dark web markets such as Silk Road, AlphaBay, and Agora.
In addition to the conviction, the jury has decided to seize assets, including 1,354 BTC stored in Bitcoin Fog’s wallet, $349,625, and other types of cryptocurrencies on the Kraken exchange.
