After 5 years, ChipMixer was finally charged with Financial Crimes by the Department of Justice yesterday here in Philadelphia. The US DOJ announced that it will press charges against the owner of the Cryptocurrency mixer on the Darkney named ChipMixer.
Minh Quốc Nguyễn, aged 49 a Vietnamese resident and FBI’s wanted list on the charges of Money Laundering, Identity Theft, and urging the public to outwit the KYC and AML regulations through illegal means is now in the claws of regulators.
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced charges against Vietnamese national Minh Quốc Nguyễn for allegedly operating ChipMixer, a darknet mixing service that laundered over $3 billion in crypto. https://t.co/zAxrYcwTuE
— FBI (@FBI) March 16, 2023
Nguyen since 2017 is operating ChipMixer as an online cryptocurrency mixer and registered multiple domain names and used those domains for Money Laundering, Identity Theft, and email fraud. He publicly ignited the customers against the KYC/AML regulated channels and crypto exchanges and urged them to prefer ChipMixer as a cover and reporting evasion gateway.
Allegations on ChipMixer
A complaint was filed against ChipMixer on March 14th, 2023. It contains the allegations on ChipMixer that it became indispensable due to serious criminal charges through multiple schemes. Here are the main allegations against ChipMixer mentioned in this complaint.
- Ransomware strains worth $17million in bitcoin connected to criminals
- $700 million+ worth of bitcoins is linked with the stolen funds through wallets. These include the heists in North Korea
- More than $200 million bitcoins are linked both directly and indirectly to the darknet markets. $60 million is linked to the world’s largest darknet market known as Hydra Market
- $35+ million bitcoin associated with fraud through online shops where criminals stole credit cards of users, hacked accounts, and stole data through network breaches
In furtherance to this case, US Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said,
“ChipMixer is a platform designed for identity theft and fraud where it conceals the sources and destination accounts that are actually linked to the criminals. It undermines the public’s confidence in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. We thank everyone who supported and helped this move against ChipMixer and worked hard in this case. We cannot and will not allow criminals to exploit the technology against the national economy and security.”
Investigation Brief of the Case
The FBI, HSI Phoenix, and HSI The Hague have investigated the case of ChipMixer and Nguyễn. They are sure that if convicted and proven guilty of charges, Nguyễn will face a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison. Furthermore, the case is being prosecuted by The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In support of this case, German Law Enforcement also took serious action against ChipMixer and blocked their servers.