THE article reports that a German national living in Colombia has been extradited to the United States on charges of owning and operating “The Versus Project,” a dark web marketplace. According to the Department of Justice, Versus Project operated from about November 2019 through about May 2022 and had over 380,000 registered users, offered more than 32,000 product listings, and facilitated over 300,000 completed orders, generating millions of dollars in transactions.
Patrick Schmitz, 37, of Taganga, Colombia, is described as a cofounder who handled day-to-day management, including responding to user tickets, reviewing vendor applications, resolving disputes, promoting Versus on the dark web, recruiting vendors, and developing monetisation strategies. He recruited and supervised staff and reported to him, with his virtual currency wallets transacting in cryptocurrency worth millions of dollars.
The DOJ notes that two men were also sentenced for using BlackCat ransomware to extort U.S. entities on the same day, framing the broader context of cybercrime activity accompanying the extradition. Read more in the press release linked in the article.