[2014-04-14] Bitcoin promoter Shrem indicted in NY for money laundering (via SILK ROAD)

[iGROWyourBiz]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/14/us-usa-crime-bitcoin-idUSBREA3D1RU20140414

(Reuters) - Prominent bitcoin entrepreneur Charlie Shrem has been indicted by a federal grand jury in New York on charges of funneling cash to the illicit online marketplace Silk Road.

Shrem, known as one of the digital currency's most visible promoters, is accused of conspiring with a Florida man, Robert Faiella, to sell more than $1 million in bitcoins to the users of Silk Road despite knowing that it would be spent on illegal uses like drug trafficking.

Both Shrem and Faiella face charges of money laundering, conspiracy and failing to file suspicious activity reports with government banking authorities, according to the indictment filed by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

 
  
Shrem's lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, and Faiella's lawyer, David Braun, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Federal authorities shut down Silk Road last year, and prosecutors from Bharara's office have charged Ross William Ulbricht with operating the site under the name "Dread Pirate Roberts."

Shrem, 24, was arrested in January and stepped down as vice president of the Bitcoin Foundation, a well-known trade group, soon after. He was previously CEO of BitInstant, a bitcoin exchange company that enjoyed financial backing from the twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss but closed last year.

Bitcoin is a digital currency, not backed by any government or central bank, that fluctuates in value according to its users' demand. Users can transfer bitcoins to each other online and store the currency in digital "wallets."

Authorities have vowed to pursue those who use bitcoin to complete illegal transactions, while regulators are still grappling with their approach to the nascent currency.

The recent failure of Japan's Mt. Gox, which filed for bankruptcy after apparently losing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoins, has underscored concerns about the currency's long-term viability.

Shrem will be arraigned on the indictment on April 29, according to Bharara's office. He faces a maximum prison term of 20 years if convicted on the most serious charge.

[franky1]

just like the other forum thread about noobs.. you should have searched the forum to see if this is old news and then updated that thread

otherwise its just repeating the same known information and bloating up the forum with information that could have been easily found via a search.

we dont need hundred's of threads about the same topics.

many thanks for your efforts,
yours sincerely
the "customer service department of bitcoin"

(sarcasm in relation to viewpoints in the other thread)

[iGROWyourBiz]

just like the other forum thread about noobs.. you should have searched the forum to see if this is old news and then updated that thread

otherwise its just repeating the same known information and bloating up the forum with information that could have been easily found via a search.

we dont need hundred's of threads about the same topics.

many thanks for your efforts,
yours sincerely
the "customer service department of bitcoin"

(sarcasm in relation to viewpoints in the other thread)

This article information is 4 hours old...

so i have no idea what you are talking about

[iGROWyourBiz]

just like the other forum thread about noobs.. you should have searched the forum to see if this is old news and then updated that thread

otherwise its just repeating the same known information and bloating up the forum with information that could have been easily found via a search.

we dont need hundred's of threads about the same topics.

many thanks for your efforts,
yours sincerely
the "customer service department of bitcoin"

(sarcasm in relation to viewpoints in the other thread)

just like in the other forum thread about needlessly becoming adversarial with others and using "noob" as an epitaph...

this article: NEW YORK Mon Apr 14, 2014 5:42pm EDT

hundreds of threads about this in a few hours? wow! this forum is busier than I realized!
(sarcasm in relation to viewpoint of other threads)

[franky1]

This article information is 4 hours old...

so i have no idea what you are talking about

old news since january

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=440927.msg4843310#msg4843310
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=436046.msg4791654#msg4791654
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=435059.msg4779315#msg4779315
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=435035.msg4779070#msg4779070
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=435094.msg4779741#msg4779741
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=436424.msg4796951#msg4796951
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=457440.msg5045380#msg5045380

all found by searching "charlie shrem arrest"

[iGROWyourBiz]

This article information is 4 hours old...

so i have no idea what you are talking about

old news since january

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=440927.msg4843310#msg4843310
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=436046.msg4791654#msg4791654
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=435059.msg4779315#msg4779315
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=435035.msg4779070#msg4779070
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=435094.msg4779741#msg4779741
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=436424.msg4796951#msg4796951
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=457440.msg5045380#msg5045380

all found by searching "charlie shrem arrest"

you might want to check the dates on those threads!  Those are MONTHS not HOURS ago...

or maybe you do not understand the difference between indictment and arrest?

[iGROWyourBiz]

But i totally understand how you wish it were an excuse to say "GOTCHA" or some such other juvenile intention.

[franky1]

But i totally understand how you wish it were an excuse to say "GOTCHA" or some such other juvenile intention.

im saying. that you could have updated one of the many other threads with this updated info. instead of starting a new thread. this is why noobs cant find information easily. because similar topics are scattered across many threads, instead of in one place. your not doing yourself or other noobs any favours

[iGROWyourBiz]

But i totally understand how you wish it were an excuse to say "GOTCHA" or some such other juvenile intention.

im saying. that you could have updated one of the many other threads with this updated info. instead of starting a new thread. this is why noobs cant find information easily. because similar topics are scattered across many threads, instead of in one place. your not doing yourself or other noobs any favours

 no you are saying that now, in an attempt to backpeddle.

you actually thought this was about a months old arrest.  you just are not man enough to admit that.

just bow out silently and leave it alone...or continue to show yourself to be an asshat...your choice.

[koshgel]

But i totally understand how you wish it were an excuse to say "GOTCHA" or some such other juvenile intention.

im saying. that you could have updated one of the many other threads with this updated info. instead of starting a new thread. this is why noobs cant find information easily. because similar topics are scattered across many threads, instead of in one place. your not doing yourself or other noobs any favours

The search function is shit on this website. Get off your high horse and admit you are acting like a fuckwit for nitpicking what people should and shouldn't post. The only noob here is you.

[xDan]

There is a press forum where copy pasted stuff like this should be posted.

[bryant.coleman]

Shrem, known as one of the digital currency's most visible promoters, is accused of conspiring with a Florida man, Robert Faiella, to sell more than $1 million in bitcoins to the users of Silk Road despite knowing that it would be spent on illegal uses like drug trafficking.

This is just a joke. How they are going to prove this? Did he directly sold his coins on Silk Road? Or did he even had a Silk Road membership? The pathetic attempt by FBI is going to be a gigantic fail.

[xDan]

Shrem, known as one of the digital currency's most visible promoters, is accused of conspiring with a Florida man, Robert Faiella, to sell more than $1 million in bitcoins to the users of Silk Road despite knowing that it would be spent on illegal uses like drug trafficking.

This is just a joke. How they are going to prove this? Did he directly sold his coins on Silk Road? Or did he even had a Silk Road membership? The pathetic attempt by FBI is going to be a gigantic fail.

But the terrible thing is, it hardly matters. They'll try, and even if they fail they'll have made his life very unpleasant for a couple of years.

[genjix]

free charlie shrem!

[xDan]

Shrem, known as one of the digital currency's most visible promoters, is accused of conspiring with a Florida man, Robert Faiella, to sell more than $1 million in bitcoins to the users of Silk Road despite knowing that it would be spent on illegal uses like drug trafficking.

This is just a joke. How they are going to prove this? Did he directly sold his coins on Silk Road? Or did he even had a Silk Road membership? The pathetic attempt by FBI is going to be a gigantic fail.

What exactly is a joke? Well, that's the whole point of a trial, the accusation gets a chance to prove their case, and the defense gets a chance to prove theirs. Where you expecting somebody to know the prosecution's arguments already? Why do you think you need to have an account on Silk Road to sell bitcoins to users? I'm not understanding what you are trying to say here. How are you so sure of Shrem's innocence? You seem to be in possession of incontrovertible proof. In that case, you should forward it to the defense lawyers ASAP. Why exactly is the FBI "failing" here?

I hate to shake you out of happy dreamland, but often the point of a trial is not justice or any silly notion like that, but instead is a means for the powers that be to make a person's life hell for a number of years, as an example to others, before they are ultimately acquitted or offered some plea bargain so the powers can save face.

Drugs are bad didncha know?

(see also the recent Weev and Barrett Brown cases, because "doing computery things a judge doesn't understand" and "poking fun at authority" are also bad)

also this: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=571330.0

[bryant.coleman]

Why do you think you need to have an account on Silk Road to sell bitcoins to users?

If some of the Silk Road users bought Bitcoins from Shrem using localbitcoins, or some other medium (or even in personal), that doesn't mean that Shrem gave away those coins to purchase drugs.

OK... answer this one.

I am having some UK Pounds with me. I exchanged the UKP for USD, as I needed the latter. The person who received the UKP used them for buying drugs. Can any one accuse me of abetting a drug purchase?

[utopianfuture]

Why do you think you need to have an account on Silk Road to sell bitcoins to users?

If some of the Silk Road users bought Bitcoins from Shrem using localbitcoins, or some other medium (or even in personal), that doesn't mean that Shrem gave away those coins to purchase drugs.

OK... answer this one.

I am having some UK Pounds with me. I exchanged the UKP for USD, as I needed the latter. The person who received the UKP used them for buying drugs. Can any one accuse me of abetting a drug purchase?

How do you know ? maybe one or two these Bitcoin buyers explicitly told him they are SilkRoad users.

[bryant.coleman]

How do you know ? maybe one or two these Bitcoin buyers explicitly told him they are SilkRoad users.

Do they have any proof for this? It is really stupid to believe that Bitcoin buyers told him that they are SR users. No drug buyer in his right mind would tell anyone else that he is going to buy drugs.

[btbrae]

I don't think they'll get him on the money laundering charge. Also it's not clear what they dug up from the e-mails but nowhere is it indicated that they have proof he was actually selling coins in order to facilitate drug trading. More that he was selling coins, knowing that the person he was selling to would be trading them with users of SR who may (or may not) be buying drugs with them on SR. Its kind of like selling polythene bags to someone that you know, one way or another, is a drug dealer. He doesn't tell you he's going to use them to pack drugs, you're just a store clerk, he could be wrapping cheese with them. What are you going to do?

I think that's where the suspicious activity report comes in, he probably should have filled one. I mean, that's kind of the situation it is designed for, and not filling one will probably go against him in one way or another.