BurtW arrested (update: charges dropped!)

[odolvlobo]

Of course there is more then that. The indictment even says that he was transmitting money to further criminal activity, so it is known claimed that he was supposedly allegedly selling to people trying claiming to commit illegal activity and admitting to as much.  

FTFY.

Trendon Shavers fallout. The feds like to turn one case into as many as possible, there's probably emails between the two they saw while building the ponzi charges so they grabbed him as well. 35 fed agents is overkill for a petty localbitcoins sting.

I don't think it has anything to do with the ponzi passthrough he was running. It was not mentioned in the indictment. They wouldn't have even needed to raid his house to get evidence against him for this anyway.

It has been suggested that the Pirate ponzi scheme is the illegal activity referenced in the indictment.

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[TheButterZone]

Due to the high correlation between bitcoin and law-abiding gun ownership libertarians/an-caps exercise the right to, I'm surprised they didn't shoot his dog or children in a no-knock raid.

media != real life

You realize policemen, federal agents etc. are just ordinary men and women like you and me, right? If they were all coldblooded killers like the media would like us to believe, the United States would be a very different country...

You realize you're not a psychic who knows exactly what informs me, right?

[wunkbone]

Of course there is more then that. The indictment even says that he was transmitting money to further criminal activity, so it is known claimed that he was supposedly allegedly selling to people trying claiming to commit illegal activity and admitting to as much.  

FTFY.

Trendon Shavers fallout. The feds like to turn one case into as many as possible, there's probably emails between the two they saw while building the ponzi charges so they grabbed him as well. 35 fed agents is overkill for a petty localbitcoins sting.

I don't think it has anything to do with the ponzi passthrough he was running. It was not mentioned in the indictment. They wouldn't have even needed to raid his house to get evidence against him for this anyway.

It has been suggested that the Pirate ponzi scheme is the illegal activity referenced in the indictment.

It is known that he was allegedly selling to someone claiming to commit illegal activity. The indictment says as much.

Hmmm, I didn't see any comments suggesting the illegal activity was the pirate ponzi, but that is an interesting theory. I don't see how pirate running a ponzi would be associated with money laundering though. I don't think that is it.

I personally think they at least first started looking at him because they had an UI say they were doing something illegal with their bitcoin in passing and he missed it (probably because he does not care what people were doing with their bitcoin - and rightfully so).

Another theory would be that he either bought or sold a large amount of bitcoin from someone who happened to send/receive it directly from Silk Road (or another illegal darknet website) and he proceeded to send/receive such bitcoin directly to an exchange with an account in his name.

[Lauda]

Due to the high correlation between bitcoin and law-abiding gun ownership libertarians/an-caps exercise the right to, I'm surprised they didn't shoot his dog or children in a no-knock raid.

media != real life

You realize policemen, federal agents etc. are just ordinary men and women like you and me, right? If they were all coldblooded killers like the media would like us to believe, the United States would be a very different country...

Sadly, I can't find the video of a lawyer (I think) talking about the US being a police state. It was very interesting and true.
In my eyes he is a free man until proven otherwise.

[Kprawn]

Well, sadly... the phrase "Inocent until proven guilty" has no meaning in todays world. It has changed to " Guilty, but not if you have enough money to afford a good lawyer "

"Money rules the world, and those who are in control of the money, control the world" 

[seriouscoin]

Someone has just pumped this thread, reading BurtW's posts in there

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=457225.60

[CoinCidental]

Has there been an update about his situation ? Is someone following his case ?

from the article below  it seems he may be charged with the btcst ponzi scam as well but no updates have been released yet :

"Wagner was a participant in HYIP scams, including a program called “Pirate Pass Through,” a ponzi scam offered by the disgraced Bitcoin Savings & Trust; Trendon T. Shavers, aka “pirateat40,” the operator of Bitcoin Savings & Trust was arrested in 2013 for running a Ponzi scam. We can’t ascertain at this stage whether Wagner was involved in running the scam or was simply an investor at the top of the ponzi pyramid, but there is ample evidence that he was pushing the program.

How the charges Wagner is facing are related to his involvement in HYIP scams isn’t clear, although certainly the fourth charge relating to transport and transmission of funds used in a criminal offense certainly would fit the definition."

[flipstyle]

Has there been an update about his situation ? Is someone following his case ?

from the article below  it seems he may be charged with the btcst ponzi scam as well but no updates have been released yet :

"Wagner was a participant in HYIP scams, including a program called “Pirate Pass Through,” a ponzi scam offered by the disgraced Bitcoin Savings & Trust; Trendon T. Shavers, aka “pirateat40,” the operator of Bitcoin Savings & Trust was arrested in 2013 for running a Ponzi scam. We can’t ascertain at this stage whether Wagner was involved in running the scam or was simply an investor at the top of the ponzi pyramid, but there is ample evidence that he was pushing the program.

How the charges Wagner is facing are related to his involvement in HYIP scams isn’t clear, although certainly the fourth charge relating to transport and transmission of funds used in a criminal offense certainly would fit the definition."

Good riddance.  I don't care if they nip him on unrelated charges...a scammer is a scammer and deserves the punishment for his actions.  He's exactly the type not needed in the community.

[CoinCidental]

there is no doubt that the people running the pirate pass through ponzi were promoting new users to invest in it  ,
there was  burtw ,goat ,paybtc and a few other users  who helped to run the program for pirate@40 but whether
they knew it was a ponzi or not remains to be proved ?

i assume everyone will push the guilt onto pirate as hes already  been arrested as the ringleader but its also unclear how much they actually profited
from the scaming of new "investors"

i guess we wont know that until the trial if ever the info goes public ..........

[Ludi]

Another theory would be that he either bought or sold a large amount of bitcoin from someone who happened to send/receive it directly from Silk Road (or another illegal darknet website) and he proceeded to send/receive such bitcoin directly to an exchange with an account in his name.

It was probably another sting operation like the other one that happened in Florida I think. If he goes to sell coins and the undercover officer mentions they'll be used for illegal purposes then they can get him on that.

[Jamie_Boulder]

Never knew the guy but I wish him the best of luck.

From reading around the alleged offenses occurred before any acknowledgement from the government that BTC was a currency or money to be traded so I'm not quite sure what they're doing...

[hilariousandco]

Has there been an update about his situation ? Is someone following his case ?

from the article below  it seems he may be charged with the btcst ponzi scam as well but no updates have been released yet :

"Wagner was a participant in HYIP scams, including a program called “Pirate Pass Through,” a ponzi scam offered by the disgraced Bitcoin Savings & Trust; Trendon T. Shavers, aka “pirateat40,” the operator of Bitcoin Savings & Trust was arrested in 2013 for running a Ponzi scam. We can’t ascertain at this stage whether Wagner was involved in running the scam or was simply an investor at the top of the ponzi pyramid, but there is ample evidence that he was pushing the program.

How the charges Wagner is facing are related to his involvement in HYIP scams isn’t clear, although certainly the fourth charge relating to transport and transmission of funds used in a criminal offense certainly would fit the definition."

http://www.burtw.com/

Is that site legit? According to it BurtW and Bruce Wagner are different people.

[Quickseller]

Very interesting. If the site is legit then burtw may not be the same as the person arrested.

Does anyone know for a fact that burtw in fact lives in Colorado?

[MrTeal]

Has there been an update about his situation ? Is someone following his case ?

from the article below  it seems he may be charged with the btcst ponzi scam as well but no updates have been released yet :

"Wagner was a participant in HYIP scams, including a program called “Pirate Pass Through,” a ponzi scam offered by the disgraced Bitcoin Savings & Trust; Trendon T. Shavers, aka “pirateat40,” the operator of Bitcoin Savings & Trust was arrested in 2013 for running a Ponzi scam. We can’t ascertain at this stage whether Wagner was involved in running the scam or was simply an investor at the top of the ponzi pyramid, but there is ample evidence that he was pushing the program.

How the charges Wagner is facing are related to his involvement in HYIP scams isn’t clear, although certainly the fourth charge relating to transport and transmission of funds used in a criminal offense certainly would fit the definition."

http://www.burtw.com/

Is that site legit? According to it BurtW and Bruce Wagner are different people.

They are different people. BurtW is Burton Wagner, and was one of the group (along with ineedausername and others) who started the first PPT on GLBSE. Bruce Wagner is a whole other can of worms.

[The Avenger]

Also, hes known to be involved in the Ponzi run by Pirate. At the time, he thought bitcoin was just funny monopoly money. He also knew full well its a ponzi (who wouldnt) but he still run a passthrough. That alone would make me never trust him.

I'm very clear about ethics. Thats why i dont even support signature campaign on this forums because most of them are scamming businesses. Making merely 0.1 a month to help the scammers? fuck no

Thumbs up for this comment. For example, anyone with bitmixer in their sig should be aware they are supporting a criminal money laundering service. It's well know that huge amounts of stolen btc have gone through this mixer, including klee's 1700 stolen btc. A lot of people on this forum really need to get their ethics clear about what they are doing in bitcoinland and how it might not be looked on so favourably in the real world. Just sayin'  

[Ludi]

Also, hes known to be involved in the Ponzi run by Pirate. At the time, he thought bitcoin was just funny monopoly money. He also knew full well its a ponzi (who wouldnt) but he still run a passthrough. That alone would make me never trust him.

I'm very clear about ethics. Thats why i dont even support signature campaign on this forums because most of them are scamming businesses. Making merely 0.1 a month to help the scammers? fuck no

Thumbs up for this comment. For example, anyone with bitmixer in their sig should be aware they are supporting a criminal money laundering service. It's well know that huge amounts of stolen btc have gone through this mixer, including klee's 1700 stolen btc. A lot of people on this forum really need to get their ethics clear about what they are doing in bitcoinland and how it might not be looked on so favourably in the real world. Just sayin'  

You should like one of the naysayers that say the exact same thing about bitcoin. Just because criminals use bitcoinmixer shouldn't mean anything. Bitmixer are providing a valid service whether people like it or not.

[CoinCidental]

Also, hes known to be involved in the Ponzi run by Pirate. At the time, he thought bitcoin was just funny monopoly money. He also knew full well its a ponzi (who wouldnt) but he still run a passthrough. That alone would make me never trust him.

I'm very clear about ethics. Thats why i dont even support signature campaign on this forums because most of them are scamming businesses. Making merely 0.1 a month to help the scammers? fuck no

Thumbs up for this comment. For example, anyone with bitmixer in their sig should be aware they are supporting a criminal money laundering service. It's well know that huge amounts of stolen btc have gone through this mixer, including klee's 1700 stolen btc. A lot of people on this forum really need to get their ethics clear about what they are doing in bitcoinland and how it might not be looked on so favourably in the real world. Just sayin'  

A large %  of  usd banknotes tested by forensics had trace amounts of cocaine on them so they were in contact with a illegal class A substance before being "laundered " back into the wild
Think about that the next time you put "drug money"  in your wallet 

Its not much  different than bitmixer

[leopard2]

I'm a bit perplexed.

I thought bitcoin ownership and conversion is perfectly legal in the U.S.  Or is it a state-by-state basis? 

Or perhaps he was just doing this unreported and did not pay a single penny of tax on it? If so, then I have no sympathy for him, that's clearly breaking the law.

Ofcourse thats not a whole story. Seriously think hes only buying and selling for his own investment? Thats what he will use for defense. FEDs might have more than that.

That's what I'm thinking.  Otherwise, FEDs would be having a field day prosecuting thousands of sellers on localbitcoins over the past 2 years.  There's got to be more on this story regarding some deeper illicit activities, and most likely tax evasion on a grand scale  (which, does not matter whether you're selling bitcoins or shit on ebay...you'll eventually get hit)

It is perfectly possible that he traded coins connected to illicit activities, without knowing. Normally people don't talk about that, unless they are really really stupid, or sting agents.

And naturally, the Feds will go after the source.

Another possibility is that they are going for the big fish first, trying to scare the "thousands of sellers on localbitcoins" because it is a bit too expensive even for big government, to send 35 highly paid henchmen after each of them.

This is what the German Bafin is doing, they scare individuals to stop them selling Bitcoins (which is possibly the reason why LBC banned Germany). It is not illegal in Germany to trade BTC without a license on a non-business basis, but the legal threats stop most people because they don't want the hassle and expense. 

[CoinCidental]

I'm a bit perplexed.

I thought bitcoin ownership and conversion is perfectly legal in the U.S.  Or is it a state-by-state basis? 

Or perhaps he was just doing this unreported and did not pay a single penny of tax on it? If so, then I have no sympathy for him, that's clearly breaking the law.

Ofcourse thats not a whole story. Seriously think hes only buying and selling for his own investment? Thats what he will use for defense. FEDs might have more than that.

That's what I'm thinking.  Otherwise, FEDs would be having a field day prosecuting thousands of sellers on localbitcoins over the past 2 years.  There's got to be more on this story regarding some deeper illicit activities, and most likely tax evasion on a grand scale  (which, does not matter whether you're selling bitcoins or shit on ebay...you'll eventually get hit)

It is perfectly possible that he traded coins connected to illicit activities, without knowing. Normally people don't talk about that, unless they are really really stupid, or sting agents.

And naturally, the Feds will go after the source.

Another possibility is that they are going for the big fish first, trying to scare the "thousands of sellers on localbitcoins" because it is a bit too expensive even for big government, to send 35 highly paid henchmen after each of them.

This is what the German Bafin is doing, they scare individuals to stop them selling Bitcoins (which is possibly the reason why LBC banned Germany). It is not illegal in Germany to trade BTC without a license on a non-business basis, but the legal threats stop most people because they don't want the hassle and expense. 

It's not really expensive since there is a 1/4 million dollar fine and all his bit coins and money and property will be seized as well as all computer equipment

I think that's more than enough to cover the price of sending some goons to his house for an hour or two so a nice profit to be made busting anyone else who is doing anything "illegal"  in btc

[nikona]

I'm a bit perplexed.

I thought bitcoin ownership and conversion is perfectly legal in the U.S.  Or is it a state-by-state basis? 

Or perhaps he was just doing this unreported and did not pay a single penny of tax on it? If so, then I have no sympathy for him, that's clearly breaking the law.

Ofcourse thats not a whole story. Seriously think hes only buying and selling for his own investment? Thats what he will use for defense. FEDs might have more than that.

That's what I'm thinking.  Otherwise, FEDs would be having a field day prosecuting thousands of sellers on localbitcoins over the past 2 years.  There's got to be more on this story regarding some deeper illicit activities, and most likely tax evasion on a grand scale  (which, does not matter whether you're selling bitcoins or shit on ebay...you'll eventually get hit)

It is perfectly possible that he traded coins connected to illicit activities, without knowing. Normally people don't talk about that, unless they are really really stupid, or sting agents.

And naturally, the Feds will go after the source.

Another possibility is that they are going for the big fish first, trying to scare the "thousands of sellers on localbitcoins" because it is a bit too expensive even for big government, to send 35 highly paid henchmen after each of them.

This is what the German Bafin is doing, they scare individuals to stop them selling Bitcoins (which is possibly the reason why LBC banned Germany). It is not illegal in Germany to trade BTC without a license on a non-business basis, but the legal threats stop most people because they don't want the hassle and expense. 

It's not really expensive since there is a 1/4 million dollar fine and all his bit coins and money and property will be seized as well as all computer equipment

I think that's more than enough to cover the price of sending some goons to his house for an hour or two so a nice profit to be made busting anyone else who is doing anything "illegal"  in btc

Yeah easily..they would be making really good profit out of it..without a doubt.!