German, Swiss investigators take down online money-laundering site

Investigators from Germany and Switzerland have dealt a blow to online money laundering involving cryptocurrencies.

The authorities announced on Monday that the server infrastructure of a so-called Bitcoin mixer was seized and the platform successfully shut down. Cryptocurrencies worth the equivalent of around €25 million ($29 million) were seized in the process.

The Public Prosecutor's Office in Frankfurt, the Zurich Cantonal Public Prosecutor's Office, the Federal Criminal Police Office and Europol were all involved in the investigations, with access being gained last Wednesday, according to the statement.

"This operation is another significant step in the international fight against online money laundering by crypto mixers," said Martina Link, vice president of the Federal Criminal Police Office.

The BKA said that the cryptomixer.io platform, which has been active since 2016, was used to conceal financial flows and allowed cryptocurrencies to be deposited and withdrawn anonymously.

The BKA said there is strong suspicion that a large proportion of the assets exchanged there were of criminal origin.

The operators are accused of commercial money laundering and operating a criminal trading platform.

In Switzerland, the server infrastructure and several email accounts were seized and data material was secured as evidence.