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唐朱昌
唐朱昌
教授,博士生导师。复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中心首任主任,复旦大学俄...
严立新
严立新
复旦大学国际金融学院教授,中国反洗钱研究中心执行主任,陆家嘴金...
陈浩然
陈浩然
复旦大学法学院教授、博士生导师;复旦大学国际刑法研究中心主任。...
何 萍
何 萍
华东政法大学刑法学教授,复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中心特聘研究员,荷...
李小杰
李小杰
安永金融服务风险管理、咨询总监,曾任蚂蚁金服反洗钱总监,复旦大学...
周锦贤
周锦贤
周锦贤先生,香港人,广州暨南大学法律学士,复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中...
童文俊
童文俊
高级经济师,复旦大学金融学博士,复旦大学经济学博士后。现供职于中...
汤 俊
汤 俊
武汉中南财经政法大学信息安全学院教授。长期专注于反洗钱/反恐...
李 刚
李 刚
生辰:1977.7.26 籍贯:辽宁抚顺 民族:汉 党派:九三学社 职称:教授 研究...
祝亚雄
祝亚雄
祝亚雄,1974年生,浙江衢州人。浙江师范大学经济与管理学院副教授,博...
顾卿华
顾卿华
复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中心特聘研究员;现任安永管理咨询服务合伙...
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上传时间: 2020-04-03      浏览次数:1485次
Small-time Russian Rapper in Hot Water for Crypto Money Laundering; Lavish Instagram Photos Point to Evidence

https://www.tronweekly.com/small-time-russian-rapper-in-hot-water-for-crypto-money-laundering-lavish-instagram-photos-point-to-evidence/

 

The rising popularity of social media has enabled the world to see the different types of personalities and how they live their lives, But there was one feature of applications like Instagram that no one really talks about: Helping the police catch criminals.

 

As March drew to a close, a Russian national identified by the FBI as a “significant cyber-criminal” was charged with money laundering in Pittsburgh. Evidence against Maksim Boiko was collected when the police searched through his Instagram, which uncovered damming evidence against him.

 

According to the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, officials were convinced that Boiko was leading a double life from his small-time rapper self, as evidenced by his lavish lifestyle photos on Instagram. The court filings also added that the Russian had used infamous crypto exchange, BTC-e to conduct his schemes.

 

The District Court of Pennsylvania further linked Boiko with transnational organized crime organization QQAAZZ. Reports about Russian syndicates infiltrating other regions have been doing the rounds repeatedly with some links supposedly connected with the Kremlin. In Boiko’s case, his flamboyant lifestyle was his biggest downfall. The Russian citizen first popped on the police radar when he entered the US mainland with $20,000 in fiat currency.

 

According to official court documents, Boiko was in violation of Title 18 of the United States Code. The documents added:

 

Maksim Boiko aka Maxim Boyko aka gangass is a 29-year-old Russian National who entered the United States via Miami, Florida with his wife on January 19, 2020. Because he entered the country with $20,000 in US currency, Boikon was interviewed by the US Customs and Border Protection. In the interview, Boiko stated that his income came from investments in Bitcoin and rental properties in Russia.”

 

What the police confirmed about Boiko’s shady dealings were his activities in the cryptocurrency world. The Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] revealed that Boiko had received almost $387,964 in his BTC-e account. The accused also withdrew about 136 Bitcoin from his account. Court filings do not mention that Boiko was a small-time rapper, but that piece of information was highly valuable for the authorities.

 

Boiko used the rap name ‘Plinofficial’ to create his account on BTC-e, which made it easier for the police to locate his Instagram of the same name. For a rapper that had only 3365 subscribers on YouTube, Boiko was found to have a penchant for uploading photos with large wads of cash. This behavior was inconsistent with the practices of legitimate business operations and was consistent with Boiko’s money-laundering accusations.

 

To hide his true identity, Boiko also used the pseudonym ‘Gangass’. He made it a point to use the scrambler “exploit.im” to conceal communications with his cybercriminal clientele. A review of FBI holdings further provided incriminating evidence against Boiko. Several Jabber chats were discovered which involved criminal money laundering committed by the holder of gangass@exploit.im.

 

Boiko’s connection with BTC-e was one of the biggest red flags. When the now-defunct exchange was shut down in 2017, reports came out in the open that almost $500 million had been siphoned by the FSB, Russia’s intelligence agency.