The U.S. Department of Justice has formally announced charges against a citizen of Croatia and Serbia, Milomir Desnica, aged 33, who's said to have been the admin of the former darknet market 'Monopoly Market' which went offline in December 2021 after being seized by authorities. In addition to his activities running the market, Desnica has been charged with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, as well as money laundering.
The case against Desnica was jointly conducted by the FBI Germany's Zentrale Kriminalinspektion Oldenburg Cybercrime Unit who were able to locate and identify Desnica. He was arrested by Austrian authorities on November 2 2022, following a search of his residence and vehicle, which resulted in the seizure of electronic devices and cash.
Monopoly Market reportedly earned vendors at least $18 million in revenue during its more than 2 years of operation, which would have earned the market's operator more than $900,000 in commission (based on the 5% fee charged for every transaction).
The FBI was able to identify Desnica after studying the database of Monopoly Market which had seized by German law enforcement. This included invoices sent to vendors, each of which contained a Bitcoin or Monero address for payment. Invoices for the period of October 22 2021 to December 26 2021 remained in the database having not been wiped.
The Justice Department stated, "Desnica sold the illicit cryptocurrency to Serbia-based peer-to-peer traders in exchange for fiat currency - all in an effort to launder the proceeds of the illicit narcotics sales."
Desnica's critical mistake was purchasing Bitcoin using a personal Google Pay account in July 2020 which allowed his identity to be linked to a Bitcoin wallet that had been used to receive Monopoly Market commissions. Desnica is now facing a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison.