September 20, 2010

http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/man-jailed-for-online-money-laundering-9904

American authorities have sentenced a 38-year-old man to six years in prison for laundering money via an online payment system

A California man was been handed a lengthy six-year prison sentence for laundering money for a gang of cyber-criminals.

Cesar Carranza, 38, also known by the handle “uBuyWeRush,” participated in the money laundering scheme “between April 2004 and November 2006,” the Department of Justice said in a news release 16 September.

According to the indictment, Carranza “received cash deposits from ‘carders’” - cyber-criminals who use stolen credit card information - and laundered the money by, among other things, “acting as a money exchanger for an online payment system known as e-Gold.”

Three directors of e-Gold had been “convicted of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business,” the DOJ said.

“Carranza pleaded guilty on 3 December 2009, to one count of conspiring to launder proceeds of unlawful activity,” the release said.

All told, Carranza was accused of helping to launder $2.5 million (£1.6 million) in illegal proceeds.