Press Release

During the conspiracy, more than $20 million in criminal proceeds were illegally laundered.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - An Indian national, Anurag Pramod Murarka, 30, an international virtual currency vendor operating under two monikers ("elonmuskwhm" and "la2nyc"), was sentenced late Wednesday, by U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove, to 121 months in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to court documents recently unsealed, since at least April 2021 and continuing until September 29, 2023, Murarka operated an international money laundering business. Murarka advertised his services online, often on dark net marketplaces, as a money laundering service. Customers would then contact him through encrypted messages, in response to those advertisements, and negotiate an exchange rate. Once the exchange rate had been set, Murarka, located in India, directed his customers to send cryptocurrency to certain cryptocurrency addresses. Murarka then worked through a complex, pre-arranged hawala operation emanating out of India to arrange for cash to be delivered to his employees in the United States. Murarka's network of employees throughout the United States and overseas would collect cash from Murarka's hawala connections and then package the cash in a variety of ways, including between the pages of books and sealed in multiple envelopes, before mailing the cash to the customer.

Murarka collected a fee for his services and used part of the fee to pay off his employees and co-conspirators. Murarka was aware that many of his customers engaged in criminal activity - specifically computer hacking and drug trafficking - and therefore knew that his business facilitated that criminal activity, by assisting in disguising the source of the unlawful activity. In total, Murarka and his co-conspirators laundered more than $20 million in criminal proceeds.

A joint operation between the FBI and USPIS resulted in Murarka's arrest. Thereafter, the FBI assumed his online identity, taking control of the money laundering operation and conducting undercover activity. This operation resulted in law enforcement actions against several of Murarka's customers, including the prevention of multiple financial account takeovers (in excess of $1.4 million), the seizure of counterfeit and illegal drugs and drug manufacturing equipment, and related prosecutions. Additionally, the FBI seized millions of dollars' worth of criminal proceeds.

Under federal law, Murarka must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon Murarka's release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years.

"Using the internet, the defendant provided his assistance to countless other criminals as they tried to conceal their stolen money and illegal drug proceeds," said Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. "This case highlights the global scope of cybercrime, as well as the demand for diligence and collaboration in fighting money laundering - a devastating second layer of criminal conduct. The dedicated work of our law enforcement partners has now held him accountable; and we remain committed in our collaborative efforts to combat this destructive criminal activity."

"Gone are the days when cyber criminals, who enable and profit from the horrendous criminal conduct of others, can sit safely in their dens, across oceans, convinced of the limited reach of justice. The success of this operation proves that the FBI can unmask even the most careful anonymous online actors," said Michael E. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office. "Moreover, the FBI will leverage every advantage against criminal networks that cause damage to our communities, to apprehend these malicious actors, seize the proceeds of their crimes, and expose their network of co-conspirators."

"The successful conclusion of this case involving the sentencing of Anurag Murarka, a cryptocurrency exchanger, shines a light on the United States Postal Inspection Service's relentless pursuit of criminals who think they can use the anonymity of the dark web to perpetrate crimes and make the US Postal Service an unwitting partner in transferring ill-begotten funds," said Lesley Allison, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge - Pittsburgh Division.

United States Attorney Shier; FBI Special Agent in Charge Stansbury; and USPIS Postal Inspector in Charge Allison, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by FBI and USPIS. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Dieruf prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

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Updated January 17, 2025