Government says creator of illicit Abacus Market is the ultimate owner of the domain.
The United States Government has filed a lawsuit (pdf) to seize the domain name Egypt.com, alleging that it was purchased with illicitly obtained funds.
In the suit, the government said that the person who operated the darknet marketplace Abacus Market, which facilitated drug trafficking, is the ultimate owner of the domain name. Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Geoffrey Gordon filed an affidavit (pdf) stating:
An HSI investigation into the real person(s) who controlled and operated the darknet marketplace ABACUS MARKET identified a money laundering network used to launder the proceeds of drug trafficking, including drug sales in the District of Puerto Rico. As part of this money-laundering activity, the virtual currency Monero was exchanged into Bitcoin via a foreign virtual currency exchange (VCE) account held in an unconfirmed identity. This Bitcoin was then transferred to a Bitcoin wallet controlled by the suspected Administrator of ABACUS MARKET and then used to purchase the domain EGYPT.COM for approximately $638,000 via a U.S. domain brokerage and a U.S. VCE on September 17, 2024. The purchase of the SUBJECT DOMAIN NAME was conducted using a suspected intermediary. On the date the domain EGYPT.COM was purchased, the same IP address was used to access both the foreign VCE account which originated the Bitcoin transfer and the U.S. VCE account used to transact the purchase, though both are nominally held in differing names in distinct countries. The evidence indicates the true owner of the domain EGYPT.COM is the Administrator of ABACUS MARKET and it was purchased using proceeds of drug trafficking and was involved in money laundering.
The affidavit states that the domain was purchased through Atom. The government obtained evidence from Atom and Namecheap that pointed to the suspect, whom the documents refer to only as “A.Y.”
In April, the government obtained a seizure warrant, which was subsequently provided to Namecheap. The domain is locked pending the outcome of the case.
Leave a Comment