Grams Helix - Bitcoin's Most Popular Mixing Service Has Closed

[Millard]

Grams has discontinued Bitcoin's most popular mixing / tumbling service and all its other services:

Helix
Helix Light
Grams
Grams Flow

"It has been a wild ride. I write to you all today with heavy heart. I have decided to take down Grams and all its' services one week from now. I have tried very hard to provide the best services on the darknet. Lately it has been more difficult to do this. It has become too difficult to get the listings from the markets and to keep up on even routine maintenance of the site. I have had a hard year personally and financially.

This decision was not an easy one, but I believe it is what is best for me. I hope for nothing but the best for all of you in the darknet world. I will give all our users a week to withdrawal their funds from their accounts. Helix Light will be disabled 24 hours before shutdown. This provides ample time for any late transactions to go through before the shutdown. Any bitcoin left on the site after Grams is shut down on 16-12-2017 will be sent to several donation sites. If you would like to suggest any sites that accept bitcoins and are worthy of donations please do so below in the comments. Stay safe out there!"​

Source: Grams, The Google Of The Dark Web Has Shuttered Operations

 

[Millard]

Sorry to jack the thread, but I can't start a thread from TOR. Did anyone notice HELIX mixer has been seized by the feds? They stopped service in 2017, but the IRS caught up to them this year.
Helix Bitcoin Mixer operator charged for laundering over $300M worth of Bitcoin

h/t @BroScientist

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
----
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 13, 2020

Ohio Resident Charged with Operating Darknet-Based Bitcoin “Mixer,” which Laundered Over $300 Million

“Helix” Laundered Bitcoin From Numerous Darknet Markets

An Ohio man was arrested for his operation of Helix, a Darknet-based cryptocurrency laundering service.

In the three-count indictment unsealed Feb. 11 in the District of Columbia, Larry Harmon, 36, of Akron, Ohio, was charged with money laundering conspiracy, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and conducting money transmission without a D.C. license.

According to the indictment, Harmon operated Helix from 2014 to 2017. Helix functioned as a bitcoin “mixer” or “tumbler,” allowing customers, for a fee, to send bitcoin to designated recipients in a manner that was designed to conceal the source or owner of the bitcoin. Helix was linked to and associated with “Grams,” a Darknet search engine also run by Harmon. Harmon advertised Helix to customers on the Darknet as a way to conceal transactions from law enforcement.

“Helix allegedly laundered hundreds of millions of dollars of illicit narcotics proceeds and other criminal profits for Darknet users around the globe,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This indictment underscores that seeking to obscure virtual currency transactions in this way is a crime, and that the Department can and will ensure that such crime doesn’t pay.”

“For those who seek to use Darknet-based cryptocurrency tumblers, these charges should serve as a reminder that law enforcement, through its partnerships and collaboration, will uncover illegal activity and charge those responsible for unlawful acts,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Shea of the District of Columbia.

“The brazenness with which Helix operated should be the most appalling aspect of this operation to every day citizens. There are bad actors and then there are criminals who facilitate hundreds of other crimes,” said Don Fort, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation. “The sole purpose of Harmon’s operation was to conceal criminal transactions from law enforcement on the Darknet, and because of our growing expertise in this area, he could not make good on that promise. Working in tandem with other sites, he sought to be the ‘go-to’ money launderer on the Darknet, but our investigators once again played the role of criminal disrupters, unraveling the interlinked web from one tentacle to another. We thank the Belizean authorities and other law enforcement agencies for their assistance on this case.”

“The perceived anonymity of cryptocurrency and the Darknet may appeal to criminals as a refuge to hide their illicit activity,” said Special Agent in Charge Timothy M. Dunham of the Criminal Division of the FBI Washington Field Office. “However, as this arrest demonstrates, the FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to bringing the illegal practices of money launderers and other financial criminals to light and to justice, regardless of whether they are using new technological means to carry out their schemes.”

The indictment alleges that Helix moved over 350,000 bitcoin – valued at over $300 million at the time of the transactions – on behalf of customers, with the largest volume coming from Darknet markets. Helix partnered with the Darknet market AlphaBay to provide bitcoin laundering services for AlphaBay customers. AlphaBay was one of the largest Darknet marketplaces in operation at the time that it was seized by law enforcement in July 2017.

The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The investigation was led by the IRS-CI and the FBI’s Washington Field Office with assistance from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs of the Criminal Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, IRS Field Offices of Washington, D.C.; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Oakland, California; and the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division and Field Offices of Cleveland, Ohio — Akron Resident Agency; Newark, New Jersey; and San Francisco, California — San Jose Resident Agency and the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service provided essential support for the operation.

Internationally, the Belize Ministry of the Attorney General and the Belize National Police Department simultaneously executed a search warrant of a residence allegedly leased by Harmon in Belize as U.S. authorities executed warrants in the United States. U.S. law enforcement agencies, coordinated by U.S. Embassy Belmopan, assisted in the Belize action. “These actions underscore the vital importance of working closely with our law enforcement partners in Belize to make both of our countries more safe and secure,” said U.S. Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. Keith Gilges.

Trial Attorneys S. Riane Harper and C. Alden Pelker of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher B. Brown of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case. Additional assistance has been provided by Trial Attorneys Emily Siedell and Brian Nicholson of the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, former CCIPS Trial Attorney W. Joss Nichols and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Riedl of the Northern District of Ohio.

Link: Ohio Resident Charged with Operating Darknet-Based Bitcoin “Mixer,” which Laundered Over $300 Million

 

[Millard]

The feds believe the Larry Harmon (Grams/Helix owner and current Coin Ninja CEO) controls as much as $80 million in crytpocurrency assets (at today's prices):

"Harmon is believed to have accumulated a massive amount of bitcoins through operation of HELIX. As the Indictment states, HELIX laundered at least 354,468 bitcoins while charging a 2.5% fee. That works out to fee income for Harmon of approximately 8,900 bitcoins—an astronomical volume of illegal proceeds, which would be close to $80 million at today’s prices.

"Evidence collected in this case confirms that Harmon controls massive cryptocurrency assets. Law enforcement recovered a spreadsheet from Harmon’s cloud storage entitled “Accounts.xlsx,” dated October 18, 2018. The spreadsheet appears to be an accounting of Harmon’s assets. It lists cryptocurrency and U.S. dollar assets totaling $56,939,610.00, including 6,284 in bitcoin and substantial holdings in other cryptocurrencies (1,013 Ethereum; 2,055 BitcoinCash; and 519 Bitcoin Gold). When Harmon was arrested on February 6, 2020, his mobile phone contained financial management app (similar to Mint.com) that appeared to show Harmon was monitoring a portfolio of cryptocurrency assets worth approximately $47,000,000. Searches of Harmon’s residence and office space in Ohio and his vacation property in Belize recovered multiple cryptocurrency storage devices and recovery seed keys, showing Harmon’s access to additional cryptocurrency assets held entirely offline. It is entirely possible that Harmon has additional cryptocurrency holdings not yet identified by the government—and, because cryptocurrencies like bitcoin can be accessed from anywhere in the world by someone with the right private key, Harmon could use these cryptocurrency assets to finance his flight from prosecution." ​

 

[Millard]

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Columbia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Ohio Resident Pleads Guilty to Operating Darknet-Based Bitcoin ‘Mixer’ That Laundered Over $300 Million​

WASHINGTON – An Ohio man pleaded guilty today to a money laundering conspiracy arising from his operation of Helix, a Darknet-based cryptocurrency laundering service. According to court documents, Larry Dean Harmon, 38, of Akron, admitted that he operated Helix from 2014 to 2017. Helix functioned as a bitcoin “mixer” or “tumbler,” allowing customers, for a fee, to send bitcoin to designated recipients in a manner that was designed to conceal the source or owner of the bitcoin. Helix was linked to and associated with “Grams,” a Darknet search engine also run by Harmon. Harmon advertised Helix to customers on the Darknet to conceal transactions from law enforcement.

“By holding Harmon accountable, the department has disrupted the unlawful money laundering practices of these dangerous criminal enterprises,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Justice Department, together with our law enforcement and regulatory partners, will continue to take enforcement actions to identify and impede those who use illicit means for financial gain, as well as those who use the Darknet to facilitate and obscure their criminal conduct.”

“Darknet markets and the dealers who sell opioids and other illegal drugs on them are a growing scourge,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips for the District of Columbia. “They may try to hide their identities and launder millions in sales behind technologies like Helix. But the department and its law enforcement partners will shine a light on their activities, dismantle the infrastructure such criminal marketplaces depend on, and prosecute and convict those responsible.”

“Criminals may think they can mask financial transactions by using services like Helix to conceal the source of illicit funds,” said Assistant Director Calvin A. Shivers of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI and our state, local, federal and international law enforcement partners are working together every day in a complex and ever-changing digital environment to protect the American people from sophisticated money launderers and financiers.”

“The Darknet is driven in part by the criminal marketplaces which peddle their nefarious goods and services,” said Chief James C. Lee of the IRS Criminal Investigation. “But these marketplaces thrive in large measure because of the infrastructure that supports them. Harmon profited by facilitating the back-channel support of these marketplaces and helped criminals launder money they received via illicit activities. He then hid those funds from the government. He admitted his role today in these activities and will now be held accountable.”

“Harmon admitted that he conspired with Darknet vendors to launder bitcoin generated through drug trafficking and other illegal activities,” said Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to infiltrate and shut down the cryptocurrency money-laundering networks that support cyber-criminal enterprises.”

Harmon admitted that Helix partnered with several Darknet markets, including AlphaBay, Evolution, Cloud 9 and others, to provide bitcoin money laundering services for market customers. In total, Helix moved over 350,000 bitcoin – valued at over $300 million at the time of the transactions – on behalf of customers, with the largest volume coming from Darknet markets. Harmon further admitted that he conspired with Darknet vendors and marketplace administrators to launder such bitcoins generated through illegal drug trafficking offenses on those Darknet marketplaces.

As part of his plea, Harmon also agreed to the forfeiture of more than 4,400 bitcoin, valued at more than $200 million at today’s prices, and other seized properties that were involved in the money laundering conspiracy. Harmon will be sentenced at a date to be determined and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, a term of supervised release of not more than three years, and mandatory restitution. Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia accepted Harmon’s guilty plea and will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The IRS-CI Cyber Crimes Unit and the FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case, with valuable assistance provided by the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the IRS’s Washington, Cincinnati and Oakland Field Offices, the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division and Cleveland, Newark and San Francisco Field Offices, and the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service.

The Belize Ministry of the Attorney General and the Belize National Police Department provided essential support for the investigation, coordinated through U.S. Embassy Belmopan. The investigation was coordinated with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which assessed a $60 million civil monetary penalty against Harmon in a parallel action.

Trial Attorneys S. Riane Harper and C. Alden Pelker of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher B. Brown of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia prosecuted the case. Additional assistance was provided by Trial Attorneys Emily Siedell and Brian Nicholson of the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, former CCIPS Trial Attorney W. Joss Nichols and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Riedl of the Northern District of Ohio.