for example: traffickers of stolen credit card data and personal identity information; peddlers of various types of online Ponzi and get-rich-quick schemes; computer hackers for hire; unregulated gambling enterprises; and underground drug-dealing websites.
21. In addition to being used to process payments for illegal goods and services online, LIBERTY RESERVE was also used by cyber-crimina1s to launder criminal proceeds and transfer funds among criminal associates. LIBERTY RESERVE was used by credit-card theft and computerehacking rings operating in countries around the world, including Vietnam, Nigeria, Hong Kong, China, and the United states, to distribute proceeds of these conspiracies among the members involved.
22. The defendants were well aware that LIBERTY RESERVE functioned as an unlawful money-laundering enterprise. Indeed, in an online chat that was captured by law enforcement between VLADIMIR KATS, a/k/a "Ragnar," and AHMED YASSINE AEDELGHANI a/k/a "Alex," KATS explicitly described LIBERTY RESERVE’s activities as "illegal" and noted that "everyone in USA" such as "DOJ" knows "LR is [a] money laundering operation that hackers use."
EFFORTS TO CONCEAL LIBERTY RESERVE'S OPERATIONS AND ASSETS
23. Throughout its operation, LIBERTY RESERVE and its principals sought to thwart effective regulation by anti-money
