Rossen G. Iossifov, the Bitcoin Exchange owner who was accused of laundering money for a Romanian gang putting up fake car listings on eBay, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. According to the Department of Justice, Iossifov was sentenced “for conspiracy to commit a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) offense and conspiracy to commit money laundering.” Based on the evidence submitted to court, Iossifov knowingly assisted the gang of fraudsters in laundering the proceeds of their fraudulent scheme while taking steps to protect himself from criminal liability.
The DOJ busted the Romanian fraudsters back in 2019, and 20 people were accused of RICO, wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering offenses. Iossifov’s business, the Bulgaria-based RG Coins, was one of the two exchanges authorities identified for the money laundering part of the operation. The DOJ says the gang posed as military looking to sell their cars on Craigslist and eBay before deployment. They made their profiles look legitimate by stealing images and names from real people in order to convince buyers to pay them first before delivery, and their profiles looked convincing enough to scam at least 900 Americans.
This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: www.engadget.com
