The following three comments consists of three previously published posts of mine separated by a horizontal line (not counting the first one, or the last horizontal line which its content is a continuation of the content above it).
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2056158.msg20505927#msg20505927More detailed information about what happened to the BTC-e service.
On July 25, 11:00 the FBI staff came to the data center where our server equipment was located and seized all equipment, the servers contained databases and purses of our service.
Almost 6 days we could not get from our hosting provider the sane information, what happened to our servers because of this information we publish only now.
July 28, the domain was confiscated.
To date, part of the service facility has been arrested by the FBI.
The next update will include information on what options are available to restore the service, as well as the procedure for obtaining funds, in the event that the service is not started. In the current situation, if the service is not started before the end of August, Then from September 1 we will start the process of refund.
In the next 1-2 weeks, we will evaluate and publish information about how much money fell into the hands of the FBI and what amount of funds is available for return.
For all those who buried us, I will remind you that the service has always worked on trust and we are ready to answer for it.
The funds will be returned to everyone!
The arrest of Russian Alexander Vinnik:
Officially declare - Alexander was never the head or employee of our service.
Sincerely, btc-e
P.S. In the subject write questions as far as possible we will answer them. The service has always worked on trust and we are ready to answer for it. The funds will be returned to everyone! The arrest of Russian Alexander Vinnik: Officially declare - Alexander was never the head or employee of our service. Sincerely, btc-e P.S. In the subject write questions as far as possible we will answer them. The service has always worked on trust and we are ready to answer for it. The funds will be returned to everyone! The arrest of Russian Alexander Vinnik: Officially declare - Alexander was never the head or employee of our service. Sincerely, btc-e P.S. In the subject write questions as far as possible we will answer them.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged A grand jury in the Northern District of California has indicted a Russian national and an organization he allegedly operated, BTC-e, for operating an unlicensed money service business, money laundering, and related crimes.
I can't believe that the fuckin FBI falsely claimed that Vinnik operated BTC-e when BTC-e adamantly declares that such was not the case. That's almost as believable as BTC-e returning all its users' funds in spite of not having any access to its database because ... wait for it ... the fuckin FBI took everything when they arrested a slew of other BTC-e employees except the dude who penned the post quoted above promising that all funds WILL Be returned just like Tom Williams of MyBitcoin promised back in 2011.
"Listen up, guys. In a few minutes we're going be boarding a plane heading to another country. Once there, we're going to BTC-e's data center and take their servers and hopefully arrest some people. We'll bring the severs and the those arrested back to the US. Meanwhile, Vinnik is about to be arrested in Greece where he's on holiday from Russia. Any questions? Oh, BTW depending on who's writing the news, Colin or Brian Stretch will be handling the prosecutions."
https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/26/16035702/btce-arrest-bitcoin-alexander-vinnik-mt-gox-theft-suspect<also quoted here:
http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/07/27/bitcoin-exchange-chief-arrested-in-ongoing-investigation-of-mt-gox-theft/>
“Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin provide people around the world new and innovative ways of engaging in legitimate commerce,” said U.S. Attorney Colin Stretch, whose office will be prosecuting the case. “As this case demonstrates, however, just as new computer technologies continue to change the way we engage each other and experience the world, so too will criminals subvert these new technologies to serve their own nefarious purposes.”
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-allegedA grand jury in the Northern District of California has indicted a Russian national and an organization he allegedly operated, BTC-e, for operating an unlicensed money service business, money laundering, and related crimes. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch for the Northern District of California; Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation Chief Don Fort; Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Acting Executive Associate Director Derek Benner; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge of the Louisville Division Amy Hess; United States Secret Service (USSS) Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Investigative Division Michael D’Ambrosio; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Inspector General, Inspector General Jay N. Lerner; and Acting Director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Jamal El-Hindi.
WHO THE FUCK IS COLIN STRETCH?? ?? ??https://www.crunchbase.com/person/colin-stretchColin Stretch became vice-president and general counsel for Facebook on July 5, 2013. Stretch started with Facebook in 2010 and served as Ted Ullyot's deputy general counsel. He was a partner with D.C. firm Kellogg Huber Hansen Todd Evans & Figel for more than 10 years before that. Stretch was involved in the Winklevoss case and a settlement with the FTC regarding Facebook's privacy policies.
"Tell you in sec after I do this line and take some
hydrocodone, oxycodone, tramadol, alprazolam and diazepam" America's 50 Outstanding General Counsel (2014)As for the dude who the arrow is pointing to, pay such no mind unless you wanna go there:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmurck/. BTW, years later we're still waiting for proof that KnC truly did pay the U$100K fee to TBC in becoming a Platinum Member. I'm guessing that it never happened, but who the fuck am I?
Who else was a partner of Kellogg Huber Hansen Todd Evans & Figel, I hear you asking?
Nobody in particular unless, that is, this guy is relevant:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-31/meet-americas-newest-supreme-court-justice-judge-neil-gorsuchHis work background includes time as a partner with the Washington law firm Kellogg Huber Hansen Todd Evans & Figel, a stint with the U.S. Department of Justice and clerkships with Supreme Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy.
A lot of news i've seen arrested a man making money and turn to bitcoin...
He was braved man and also make the btc more illegal
I think btc will became illegal if other people uses that at wrong way..
And i think because of its a virtual money its not paying any tax or what else and tax is used by the government in replacing stuffs in a particular country..
Yes, Vinnik was a brave man running various money services since the early 2000's, perhaps using those, too, as money laundering entities.
"BTC-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Nov 10, 2015: https://www.coindesk.com/us-justice-department-holds-digital-currency-summit-in-san-francisco/Xapo CEO Wences Casares, Coinbase founder Fred Ehrsam and Ripple CEO Chris Larsen, among others The US Department of Justice (DOJ) convened a first-of-its-kind conference on digital currency and the blockchain in San Francisco today.
According to the agency, the goal of the event was to unite the private and public sector in discussions centered on strategies for limiting cybercrime perpetrated with the emerging technologies.
The unpublicized event, organized by the DOJ’s Digital Currency Task Force and held at the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco, saw 175 industry participants engage in panel discussions that sought to emphasize its core theme from the point of view of entrepreneurs, law enforcement officials and regulators.
Though no participants were named in formal release, Twitter images from the event show speakers included Xapo CEO Wences Casares, Coinbase founder Fred Ehrsam and Ripple CEO Chris Larsen, among others.
In remarks, US Attorney Brian J Stretch positioned the event as one that sought to forge a common ground between representatives of the government and the distributed financial technology sector:
“As emerging technologies such as digital currency and blockchains expand into new and legitimate applications, it becomes all the more critical for industry leaders and government agencies to share insights and perspectives in order to combat the illicit use of these technologies.”
Further addressing the need for dialogue was FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery, who noted that despite her department’s early efforts to understand the industry, continued discussions are needed due to the evolving nature of the technology.
“We only opened the door for the hundreds of other questions beyond our anti-money laundering perspective,” Calvery said.
The event was previously hinted at by DOJ Digital Currency Crimes Coordinator Kathryn Haun in an interview with CoinDesk in September in which she spoke at length about the multi-agency task force and its goals.
At the time, Haun sought to stress that the US government was broadly seeking to engage the digital currency and blockchain industry in discussions that would provide clarity on key issues for all ecosystem participants.
Translated: Akin to nobody brings massive amounts of drugs in the US unless it's us doing it, nobody runs a money laundering service unless it's us doing or overseeing it, up to and including some rogue dude in Russia which - MARK MY WORDS - we will eventually nab, hence inviting you fine 175 folks to this unannounced me
atup today - there'll be
pizza afterwards in the basement for any of yous into such with an option to stay longer to witness others killing
pizza - to give us, us as in US, any info you have on this Russki, whereupon outta the kindness of our hearts we'll let you operate another day, because that's how we roll.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/11/01/federal-prosecutor-kathryn-haun-on-how-criminals-use-bitcoin-and-how-she-catches-them/#4dfe4c1b1871“When the tip is, ‘You’ve got a dirty agent on your payroll,’ you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt,” she says. “I thought I had to put this, what I called, rumor to rest. So when I started looking into this matter, I was doing it from the perspective of, I want to clear this person’s name, but I quickly learned that wasn’t going to be the result.”
She describes how she uncovered what were actually “the perfect criminals” — being federal agents, “they knew how to cover their tracks,” she says. Tune in to find out how she was able to follow the bitcoins, how tracking those patterns revealed to her that there were two dirty federal agents, not one, and what telling detail led her to suspect the second must also be a federal agent.
Call me a nut, but I'm thinkin' that them two FBI agents were part of some plot along with Paul Vernon of Cryptsy who used to suck the dicks of 3-, 4- and 5-Star Generals down in Ft Hood during the late 90s. Hell, at this point it wouldn't surprise me if Sonny Vleisides of BFL is an operative.