Security News > 2024 > June > Empire Market owners charged for enabling $430M in dark web transactions
Two men have been charged in a Chicago federal court for operating "Empire Market," a dark web marketplace that facilitated over $430 million in illegal transactions between February 2018 and August 2020.
Empire Market was a popular dark web marketplace that sold illegal drugs, chemicals, jewelry, credit card numbers, counterfeit money bills, malware, and other illicit goods, offering payment options including Monero, Litecoin, and Bitcoin.
According to the indictment released by the U.S. Department of Justice late last week, Thomas Pavey and Raheim Hamilton were previously involved in selling counterfeit U.S. currency on AlphaBay before starting Empire Market.
Pavey and Hamilton paid themselves by retaining portions of cryptocurrency transactions on Empire Market and used the funds to pay themselves and a team of moderators on the market.
No details were shared about when the arrests occurred and whether the abrupt 2020 shutdown of the Empire Market was due to law enforcement action.
Owner of Incognito dark web drugs market arrested in New York.
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