TechFlow news — On November 18, according to Finance Feeds, Larry Dean Harmon, a resident of Akron, Ohio, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for operating Helix, a darknet cryptocurrency mixing service. Court documents reveal that between 2014 and 2017, Helix laundered over 354,000 bitcoins worth approximately $311 million at the time.
Harmon pleaded guilty on August 18, 2021. In addition to his prison term, he will face three years of supervised release and a fine of $311 million. Law enforcement authorities have seized his assets, including cryptocurrencies and real estate, valued at more than $400 million.
Furthermore, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) imposed a $60 million civil penalty on Harmon. Investigations found that Harmon deliberately evaded obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), failing to collect or verify customer information and deleting relevant records, thereby enabling Helix to become a transaction platform for drug traffickers, counterfeiters, and fraudsters. It is important to note that the Helix referenced in this case is unrelated to the currently operating DeFi derivatives trading platform also named Helix.
