John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of
Connecticut, announced that MICHAEL RICHO, 37, of New Haven and formerly of
Wallingford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in
Hartford to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by three years of
supervised release, for fraud and money laundering offenses in connection with
a scheme to steal bitcoins in an online phishing scheme. Judge Bryant also ordered Richo to pay a
$10,000 fine and to forfeit various computers and electronic devices, an assortment
of precious coins and metals that he bought with the proceeds of his offense,
and $352,500 in cash.
According to the court documents and statements made in
court, Richo engaged in an online phishing scheme to steal bitcoins from
individuals on the dark web. Bitcoins
are a form of electronic currency, and online marketplaces on the dark web
typically accept them as a payment method.
Richo carried out the scheme by posting fake links to online
marketplaces on dark web forums. The
links directed individuals to fake login pages that looked like the real login
pages for the various online marketplaces.
When an individual attempted to log in, Richo stole his or her username
and password. Once he had an
individual’s username and password, Richo monitored the individual’s bitcoin
balance at the real marketplace. If the
individual later deposited bitcoins with the real marketplace, Richo withdrew
the bitcoins before the individual could spend them and caused the stolen
bitcoins to be deposited into his own bitcoin wallet. He then sold the stolen bitcoins to others in
exchange for U.S. currency, which was deposited into bank accounts that he
controlled or was provided to him through Green Dot Cards, Western Union
transfers, and MoneyGram transfers.
In total, Richo obtained more than $365,000 through his
scheme. He also had more than 10,000
stolen usernames and passwords saved on his computer.
Richo was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on
October 5, 2016. On June 27, 2017, he
pleaded guilty to one count of access device fraud and one count of money
laundering.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. The case was prosecuted
by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment