#Cryptocurrency provider sentenced to 121 months#

The U.S. Department of Justice recently sentenced Anurag Pramod Murarka, an Indian national and international virtual currency exchanger, to 121 months in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering. Murarka used advertisements on the dark web to solicit customers, facilitating the transfer of illicit funds through cryptocurrency, laundering over $20 million for criminals involved in hacking and drug trafficking. His money laundering operation ran from April 2021 until September 29, 2023. Murarka advertised his money laundering services on dark web marketplaces, where customers contacted him through encrypted messages to negotiate exchange rates. Once a rate was established, Murarka would instruct customers to send cryptocurrency to a designated address, and then deliver cash to employees in the United States through a complex Indian hawala operation. Murarka’s network of employees spanned the United States and overseas, collecting cash, packaging it, and mailing it to customers. Murarka charged a fee for his services and used a portion to bribe employees and co-conspirators. He was aware that many of his customers were engaged in criminal activity, including computer hacking and drug trafficking, and therefore his business facilitated criminal activity by obscuring the source of the illicit funds.