Culled from BBC
The takedown of the
Liberty Reserve digital cash exchange has caused "pain" to criminals who
used the facility, according to a leading security expert.
Brian Krebs said he had seen comments on crime-linked restricted access forums suggesting many had suffered "steep losses".US prosecutors published an indictment against the site's staff on Tuesday.
It says they deliberately helped users "distribute, store and launder the proceeds of their illegal activity".
Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve had essentially functioned as a "black market bank" which had "allegedly processed 55 million separate financial transactions, and laundered a staggering $6bn [£4bn] in criminal proceeds", said Preet Bharara, Attorney for the Southern District of New York, at a press conference.
He added that about $25m had been seized following the arrest of Liberty Reserve's founder Arthur Budovsky in Madrid, Spain.
Four others have also been arrested and at least a further two men are being sought. In addition, computer servers used by the firm in Costa Rica and Switzerland are being examined.