Man pleads guilty to tax evasion for earning $1M selling logins on dark web

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Fort Lauderdale, FL - A South Florida man pled guilty to tax evasion after trying to avoid paying taxes on over $1,000,000 in cryptocurrency that he earned through illegal dark web transactions.

33-year-old Ethan Trainor pled guilty in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Tuesday.

The U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of Florida says Trainor admitted to using cryptocurrency to buy and sell online account logins from 2014 to 2017.

Prosecutors say the usernames and passwords were to paid movie and music streaming services, pornography websites, educational websites, ride-share service accounts and other services.

Investigators say Trainor used services known as "mixers" or "tumblers" that pool users' cryptocurrency, then distribute “clean” currency to users’ virtual wallets to hide the funds.

Agents with ISC CI Miami, DEA Miami, FBI Miami, HSI Miami and USPIS Miami were involved in the investigation. 

It’s unclear how Trainor was caught.


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