Just over a week ago, Ireland’s law enforcement announced the arrest of Bohemia’s Darknet market admin along with two others. The 23-year-old man appeared in court on money laundering charges related to darknet markets and cryptocurrency transactions. Although released on bail, he will return to court on October 3. After the announcement, Dread Rumors have emerged online about a potential law enforcement informant within darknet communities.
Key Insights
Darknet admin Kevin Daniel Andrei, 23, charged with money laundering, appeared before the Criminal Courts of Justice.
Charges involve laundering over €283,000 through Binance, Wirex, and Revolut transactions between March 2021 and June 2024.
Andrei was arrested as part of a Garda investigation into darknet markets and cryptocurrencies.
He was released on bail with conditions, including surrendering his passport and avoiding cryptocurrency transactions.
Two other individuals arrested in connection with the investigation were released without charge.
Andrei is due to appear in court again on October 3 for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin and Monero, worth approximately €6.5 million, was seized by Gardaí in Dublin as part of the investigation.
Rumors circulated on the Dread forum suggest that a significant bust in the darknet market community may have been facilitated by law enforcement (LE) informants.
Bohemia Admin Investigated and Arrested
Kevin Daniel Andrei, a 23-year-old believed to be an administrator of the Bohemia darknet market, has been formally charged with money laundering. This comes after a successful investigation and arrest in a significant $6.5 million Garda operation targeting illegal online activities. Andrei, who resides at Drynam Avenue in Swords, Dublin, appeared before the Criminal Courts of Justice to face three counts of money laundering under Section 7 of the Criminal Justice Act. The charges relate to the concealment and disguise of over €283,000 in cryptocurrency transactions, allegedly the proceeds of criminal activities conducted through the darknet.
According to the report, Kevin Daniel Andrei was arrested after an investigation by the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCB). The LE team closely monitored the suspects’ activities, linking them back to the Bohemia darknet market. The investigation traced BTC and Monero transactions that were linked to illegal activities conducted through the darknet. Over time, detectives uncovered a series of financial transactions that were intricately used to conceal the origins of substantial amounts of money. These transactions, conducted through platforms such as Binance, Wirex, and Revolut, raised red flags and prompted further scrutiny by law enforcement.
One breakthrough in the case came from suspicious financial transactions involving over €283,000 in cryptocurrency, which was believed to be the proceeds of criminal operations on the Bohemia market.
Detective Garda Ciaran Byrne: “He was cautioned and arrested this afternoon at Kevin Street Garda station and made no reply to the charges.”
During the court hearing, Detective Garda Ciaran Byrne from the GNCCB presented all the evidence leading to Andrei’s arrest at Kevin Street Garda Station. The suspect made no reply regarding the charges presented to him.
Allegations involved:
42 Binance transactions worth over €34,000
Wirex transactions totalling more than €22,000
A substantial number of Revolut transactions amounting to over €227,000
Additional undisclosed transactions
All conducted between March 2021 and June 2024. These transactions are believed to have been used to launder funds generated from illegal activities on the darknet.
Superintendent Michael Mullen: “These actions demonstrate Ireland’s continued determination that this jurisdiction is not a safe place for persons involved in any form of criminality.”
Dread Users Freak Out
Once Irish LE released information regarding the arrest, HugBunter confirmed that Kevin Daniel Andrei was, in fact, Bohemia Marketplace’s admin.
HugBunter confirmedin a Dread post titled “Bohemia Admin(s) arrested in Ireland, 6.5 million euros seized” that there are “Concerns now will be whether they still had market data stored after their exit scam, which will now have been seized or will be offered to law enforcement as part of a plea deal, considering they have seized crypto, its very likely they have also been given any remaining market data already.”
He continued to point out his worry that three Darknet Market admins have been arrested over just a few months and this would start multiple conspiracy theories, particularly since LE’s “Operation End Game” warning earlier this year.. He was right.
Soon after this announcement Dread users banned together to find out whats really going on. One user who has now deleted his account wrote
After reading /u/Hugbunter ‘s post /post/cc70e6b6ecac7df9d6cb and especially the last part, it rang in my head… Could LE be knowing and using something that we don’t know? How come busts are happening so frequently? So, I’m taking it as a personal mission to start an investigation and use my best efforts and resources to figure out wtf is going on for the sake of DNM users and everyone in the community. From this point forward I will be starting an investigation where I will make continuous posts any findings I have or any new intel, but I will not be posting my next steps or what routes I am taking to ensure the investigations success. If anyone wants to join me they’re more than welcome to reach out and help. Stay safe everyone
Although this didn’t get much traction, a follow up post was created saying that “someone very trusted in the community has been uncovered to be an LE informant and they will be exposed very soon… like within 24 hours” and gave the user enough of a warning to come clean on their own.
Even HugBunter stepped in to say that the user would need to “verify with us before wrongly outing someone on the platform” and that he believes the account was just a troll account anyway. Though this hasn’t paused all speculation on the platform.
While no informant has been exposed as of yet, it would be a major turning point on how Darknet Markets in 2024 operate.
