Founder of digital currency Liberty Reserve extradited to the US

Liberty Reserve billed itself as the Internet's "largest payment processor and money transfer system," and the DOJ alleged that Budovsky structured it in a way that helped users conduct illegal transactions anonymously and launder the proceeds. Budovsky sought out criminals as customers while seeking to evade the reach of U.S. law enforcement, the DOJ alleged.

Before the U.S. government shut it down in May 2013, Liberty Reserve had more than 1 million users, including more than 200,000 users in the U.S., the DOJ said. The service processed about 55 million transactions totalling US$6 billion, the agency said.

Some of the transactions allegedly involved funds obtained through credit card fraud, computer hacking, narcotics trafficking and other crimes, the DOJ said.

Budovsky is among seven individuals charged in the indictment, which was unsealed in May 2013. Four co-defendants have pleaded guilty to charges and await sentencing in the court in New York. Charges are pending against Liberty Reserve and two individual defendants who have not been arrested.

Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on TwitterTwitter at GrantGross. Grant's email address is grant_gross@idg.com. Alles zu Twitter auf CIO.de