Feds in NY: Costa Rica money biz a hub for crooks
Associated Press= NEW YORK (AP) — When an undercover agent posing as a new client sought to register at the currency transfer firm Liberty Reserve as "Joe Bogus" from "123 Fake Main Street" in "Completely Made Up City," no one at the company based in Costa Rica objected.
The same client recording digital currency transactions as "ATM skimming work" and "for the cocaine"? Still no problem.
In fact, federal prosecutors in Manhattan say anonymity and criminality were what Liberty Reserve was all about.
"The only liberty that Liberty Reserve gave many of its users was the freedom to commit crimes, as it became a popular hub for fraudsters, hackers, and traffickers," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Tuesday in announcing charges against seven people in a $6 billion scheme that he billed as possibly the largest money-laundering scheme even seen in the United States.
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