Israeli pleads guilty to money laundering on dark web, faces 20-year sentence
Neta Bar, 02 April 2021
Tal Prihar, a 37-year old Israeli living in Brazil, pleaded guilty Wednesday to operating illegal transactions on the darknet, including purchasing firearms, heroin, and other contraband.
According to court documents, Phihar and his partner, another Israeli named Michael Phan, earned $8.4 million through running DeepDotWeb, a website that provided users with direct links to illegal darknet marketplaces. In return, Phihar and Phan received payments from the marketplaces in the form of bitcoin virtual currency.
To conceal the payments, Phihar transferred them from his bitcoin wallet to other accounts he owned in the names of shell companies.
DeepDotWeb was seized by federal authorities in April 2019. Both Phihar and Phan were indicted on Wednesday, and the website was shut down.
“This prosecution, seizure of the broker website, and forfeiture send a clear message that we are not only prosecuting the administrators of darknet marketplaces offering illegal goods and services, but we will also bring to justice those that aim to facilitate and profit from them,” Acting Assistant Attorney-General Nicholas McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said.
