DOJ charge Ohio man who laundered over $300 million through Bitcoin

Larry Dean Harmon of Akron, Ohio has been arrested for operating a cryptocurrency laundering service, where he moved a hefty $300 million through Bitcoin in a "tumbling" operation.

Harmon partnered with underground marketplace AlphaBay on an operation called Helix, which was known for its illegal activity that included drug deals (and I'm sure much more) according to the Department of Justice. Harmon exchanged over 350,000 bitcoins on Helix between the years 2014-2017, with the act of "tumbling" seeing people turn their cryptocurrency transactions to hide them from illegal activities like drugs, guns, and much more evil activities.

Don Fort, chief of the IRS Criminal Investigations division said in a statement: "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. 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".

Harmon has been charged with money laundering conspiracy, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and conducting money transmission without a DC license.