New Bitcoin Laundering Case: $3 Million Stolen In A NY Drug-Infused Scam

Two New Yorkers have recently pleaded guilty in a new Bitcoin laundering case which saw more than $3 million stolen in a drug-infused scheme. Named Callaway Crain and Mark Sanchez, the Bitcoin scammers are in the latest cryptocurrency news for earning money by selling steroids and controlled substances – mostly in Bitcoin. Their first arrest was about a year ago.

What the police found in this Bitcoin laundering scam was Crain and Sanchez as the main mobsters operating with this scam on the dark webs. They first left New York in 2015 to continue their enterprise in Texas. Right now, the guilty plea has given them guaranteed sentences of 7.5 years for each and no less than 2.5 years accordingly.

The New Yorkers are convicted of a second degree money laundering and fifth-degree drug trafficking, both felonies in this new Bitcoin laundering case. As a note shared on the Manhattan District Attorney’s page shows, the two New Yorkers manufactured the steroids themselves in private residences – selling them to at least one NFL player and a few other prominent people.

Crain and Sanchez even sold their drugs to police officers. The note explains the new Bitcoin laundering case in detail:

“The defendants purchased steroids, precursor chemicals, and other controlled substances wholesale from China and other countries. After obtaining the chemicals and substances, they mixed, pressed, and packaged them, often under brand names they created; advertised and sold them online; and shipped them to customers in all 50 states and sixteen countries. Their customers included a college football player, an NFL football player, a professional volleyball player, fitness trainers, police officers, members of the armed services deployed overseas, body builders, drug dealers, doctors, lawyers, and a high school athletic coach.”

However, what the notice fails to mention is the name of the exchange the men used to convert from crypto to cash. Even though this new Bitcoin laundering case was re-shared on many best cryptocurrency news sites, we see no link to an exchange. Some report that the scammers just hopped the coins to an intermediary wallet before depositing them on exchanges.

“Customers also made payments through Western Union. Those payments were laundered through the use of false identities, or through international wire transfers from foreign-based receivers,” the notice states.

In total, there were about 10,000 orders moved to 16 countries – even though the business was primarily set up in the United States. Therefore, this is one of the biggest Bitcoin laundering cases and luckily, the scammers have been caught.