<<<
NEWS FROM THE LAB - Friday, October 19, 2007
>>>
 

 
555 8th Ave Posted by Sean @ 15:15 GMT

The Russian Business Network has a curious domain registration history.

Here's the given address for the later half of 2006:

RBNNetwork.com History

The 555 reminded us of the fake phone numbers used in Hollywood movies so we decided to do a search on the address. There were lots of results. It was when we searched for "555 8th Ave" and e-gold that we discovered an interesting case from the past.

On February 22nd of 2006, the Manhattan District Attorney's office indicted three people for laundering $25 million via their business called Western Express:

Western Express Indictment

Western Express was hosted at Paycard200.com. Here's the page courtesy of the Wayback Machine:

Western Express - PayCard2000

Shortly after the incitement there's a message informing their customers that they have hired attorneys to fight the charges:

Western Express - Closed for Business

And then the case drops off the radar…
Being curious, we called the District Attorney's office in New York for a follow-up. The couple running the website plead guilty to the charges against them and received 2 to 6 (Vadim), and 1 to 3 (Yelena) years in prison. Their son is apparently still a fugitive.

Sometimes crime doesn't pay.