Payment Processing Company Operator Admits To Money Laundering Charges

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The founder of payment processing company Liberty Reserve pleaded guilty Friday to charges his online bank laundered millions of dollars for criminals.

Arthur Budovsky, 40, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan Friday to conspiring to commit money laundering. He faces 20 years in prison.

Budovsky was arrested in Spain in 2014 and held to face a Manhattan indictment against him and others.

U.S. officials accused him of using Liberty Reserve, which provided anonymity to its customers, as a kind of underworld bank that handled about $6 billion worth of illicit transactions for 1 million users, including 200,000 in the U.S.

U.S. officials accused him of using Liberty Reserve, which provided anonymity to its customers, as a kind of underworld bank that handled about $6 billion worth of illicit transactions for 1 million users, including 200,000 in the U.S.

Budovsky has said he created a secure platform for online financial transactions, and Liberty Reserve cooperated with investigators.

When he announced the charges in May 2013, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Liberty Reserve "became the bank of choice for the criminal underworld."

He said the case might represent the largest international money laundering case ever brought by the United States.

Budovsky moved his business to Costa Rica after he was convicted on state charges related to an unlicensed money transmitting business. He renounced his American citizenship after setting up in the Central American country, where all online businesses are legal and laws do not regulate them.

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