Arthur Budovsky, 42, operator of Liberty Reserve, an online payment processor that prosecutors said was used by cybercriminals to transfer funds anonymously, was sentenced in the Southern District of New York on Monday to 20 years in prison for money laundering, according to the BBC.
The online facility was shuttered in 2013. Manhattan U.S. attorney Preet Bharara said Budovsky built his digital currency empire – with more than 5.5 million user accounts worldwide – "expressly to facilitate money laundering on a massive scale for criminals around the globe."
Budovsky's operation processed 78 million transactions with a combined value of $8 billion, the U.S. Justice Department said.
In his plea, Budovsky confessed to laundering between $250 million and $550 million of criminal proceeds related to Liberty Reserve accounts in the U.S.
Budovsky was also ordered to pay a $500,000 fine and forfeit $122 million of company funds.
