US authorities have charged Thomas Spieker, Jr. for operating a global money laundering business, assisting at least 7 criminal clients to conceal their illicit proceeds through anonymous Bitcoin transactions.
Spieker had been operating his illicit business since 2014. He used ‘proxies’ to open bank and cryptocurrency exchange accounts to be used for illicit transactions. Spieker and his proxies then met with clients and gave them cash in exchange for Bitcoin, or vice-versa, receiving 4-12% of the transaction in return. During 2018-21, Spieker converted over $2.3 million into Bitcoin and over $380,000 worth of Bitcoin into cash.
In this period, Spieker also laundered over $380,000 for illicit drug distributors Zashan Khan and Cosma Siekierski. Anderson Laroc, another one of Spieker’s clients, stole nearly $300,000 in an international SIM-swapping scheme with a Canada-based co-conspirator. Further, Spieker laundered $620,000 for a member of an Eastern European organized crime syndicate. Spieker also laundered more than $267,000 for the operator of a Nigeria-based romance scam.
Source: Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (USA)
