Digital Payments Service Liberty Reserve Shuts Down

Digital currency exchange Liberty Reserve has been shut down after authorities arrested founder Arthur Budvosky Belanchuk in Spain, according to BBC News.

Liberty Reserve allowed users to move money anonymously via credit card, bank wire, postal money order or other money transfer service with a maximum fee of $2.99 per transaction. Several online sources indicate that Liberty Reserve became popular with cyber criminals, although many users who used Liberty Reserve legally have come forward in the wake of the shutdown.

In 2006, Budovsky and partner Vladimir Kats were found guilty of operating an illegal money transmittal business called GoldAge from a Brooklyn, N.Y. apartment. VentureBeat  notes that the two were sentenced to face five years in prison, but only served probation.

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