He Got Greedy: How the U.S. Government Hunted Encryption Programmer Paul Le Roux

Another great, fun write-up by Ratliff. I&#x27;m surprised by by a number of things which I&#x27;ll comment on in a disorganized way. :) One is how often Israeli commandos turn up in these organizations. In parallel, there&#x27;s their well-known effectiveness plus the risk of Mossad connections that can burn you. Mexican cartels, Colombian, Paul Le Roux... they all buy them up. Cheap, too. I&#x27;d like to hear their logic on that.<p>That he was still producing 200kilos out of thin air was interesting. Operations are still going somewhere with possibly millions moving. Either his that are still running autonomously or others with him just having 3rd parties that can pull a huge transaction at once.<p>His OPSEC sucks. I mean, I&#x27;m amazed that he didn&#x27;t get caught earlier in some unrelated investigation using his real name and emails on all kinds of shady stuff. Many I know are too paranoid to do that thinking someone would connect dots. He did it and nobody connected dots until piles of high risk crimes added up with benefit of easy tracing. Even police said a little more obfuscation would&#x27;ve thrown them. This means we&#x27;ve overestimated the police&#x27;s ability to connect dots on suspicious items. Just don&#x27;t know how much.<p>Spamhaus says a quarter of stuff came from this company. I read much in INFOSEC but never heard them connect it to something like this. Another &quot;under the radar&quot; aspect that&#x27;s amazing. Plus, owning a registrar for spam cover is excellent example of subversion at protocol level.<p>$200-400 million a year could buy tons of INFOSEC and OPSEC. He could&#x27;ve rebranded under a new company to move his name further from the transactions. He could&#x27;ve potentially paid his Israelis to straight up break in and steal&#x2F;alter records. He could&#x27;ve dropped a few mil strategically in Brazil on key people to spot legal and financial risks along with strats people use to dodge or buy cops. Before he went there. Far as Liberian deal, he should&#x27;ve sent one of his well-paid, experienced people to negotiate that. At his level, he should never leave protection or associate himself with something that&#x27;s tainted. And when busted, getting immunity to flip is a rational option in his situation but admitting to murders was just stupid.<p>How about &quot;An arrogant way of living?&quot; Haha.

<i>&quot;In the early days of RX Limited, employees purchased individual web domains at public sellers like GoDaddy. Later, RX Limited spawned its own domain-selling company, ABSystems—the equivalent of opening a printing press for web addresses. But instead of selling those addresses to others, ABSystems generated them by the thousands, virtually for free, exclusively for RX Limited.&quot;</i><p>This guy knew how to scale! Started&#x2F;bought a domain registrar to generate the so many spammy sites needed to sell all those drugs.<p>Another unrelated point. He found himself in a career crisis in 2002, and also discovered he was adopted, which according to this series (and some Australian media articles) disturbed him. And there are two distinct career paths before and after it.<p>Although, I am filled with disgust at his actions, esp. he got people killed. But it also stuns me the amount of &quot;progress&quot; he did in a span of less than a decade from 2002 (assuming by 2011 he was done with it, sort of).

<i>Halfway to the airport, however, Le Roux switched tactics, said Stouch. “He just essentially said he was no longer going to resist and that he would cooperate with our commands.” According to the DEA, Le Roux waived his Miranda rights somewhere over the Atlantic and agreed to tell them everything he knew.</i><p>What miraculous luck that such a thing would happen, purely of his own free will.

hacker news is not cool with link shorteners. most link shorteners (bit.ly, et al) are banned here. chances are good that the only reason this particular shortener isn&#x27;t banned yet is because dang is not aware of it. should be replaced with this article&#x27;s true url:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;mastermind.atavist.com&#x2F;he-got-greedy" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;mastermind.atavist.com&#x2F;he-got-greedy</a>

This is a very interesting story

&gt; “He got greedy,” Jody continued. “He probably could have closed up shop in 2006 or 2007, been a rich millionaire, and never have been investigated at all.”<p>This does seem to be a common thread with highly skilled and intelligent criminals. Their pride convinces them they can keep going when the truth is it is time to pull the ripcord years before they got caught and walk away with all the wealth a person would ever need to live happily ever after.

Another absolutely fantastic article on this same guy:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;mastermind.atavist.com&#x2F;he-always-had-a-dark-side" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;mastermind.atavist.com&#x2F;he-always-had-a-dark-side</a>

Weight of 342 bars of gold would be 4255-kg (9381-lb)...<p>...find it hard to believe the carrying capacity of an average taxi would support this.

So excited to red this installment. So far, this series has been fantastic. I had no idea who Le Roux was three weeks ago, let alone his shadowy background and connection to tools I have used in the past.<p>Thank you for the great work.

&quot;... Then the arms ship MV Captain Ufuk was intercepted off the coast, Sol told me, the DEA “knew that Le Roux was behind that shipment right away. Because La Plata Trading and Red White and Blue Arms”—companies tied to the shipment—“connected back to ABSystems, and the websites were registered to him. ...”*<p>quite poor opsec skills obviously not as tech savy as they painted him

YES my lunch break is going to rule, reading this. i love this series so far!

This has been a fantastic series of articles! I absolutely love this. Evan Ratliff is simply a superb writer in long form journalism.

I&#x27;m assuming that this submission&#x27;s headline differs from the original (&quot;He Got Greedy&quot;) to make it more useful for HN readers...but I wish it were how other reputable news sites, such as The Washington Post, constructed their linkbaity headlines: `the-short-answer: the linkbait phrase`<p>As a reader, it makes me no-less interested in the content.

Among the most closely-guarded troves of knowledge in the world are those pertaining to organized crime. This stuff is so dramatic and interesting because it is sort of &quot;forbidden knowledge&quot;.<p>I have high hopes for Quora (one of the YC portfolio companies) because they are trying to make accessible this sort of locked-up knowledge.

Is this the same Paul Le Roux who wrote the original software that TrueCrypt was based on?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;E4M" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;E4M</a>

Does anyone know if this is the last installment or how many there will be?

Yesssss i have been waiting hard for the next part of the story. Ut&#x27;s totally riveting.<p>I would pay for more of this!!! [And or for future investigative journalism of this incredible scope]

I am fascinated by TruCrypt and Bitcoin -- they had a very big impact on the world but their authors are completely unknown. Are there any other instances of things like that?

Something which confuses me about the pharma sites is that most of the pills being sold seem pretty obscure, yet they clearly managed to earn a fortune

I wonder why he was so willing to talk.

I love this series thus far. So interesting.

That story would make a class movie.

When is the movie lol

Altgeld Garden Drug Co was in the middle of an interesting location... One of two registered... Altgeld Gardens is one of &quot;Chicago Housing Authority’s largest housing development.&quot;<p>---<p>Altgeld Garden Drug Co., Chicago – pharmacy license (054-003512) revoked and Erskine A. Cartwright III, Chicago – pharmacist license (051-033091) suspended for 30 days followed by probation for two years after information came to the Department&#x27;s attention that from on or about the Fall of 2006 continuing to on or about the summer of 2007, the pharmacy dispensed a substantial quantity of prescription drugs, including controlled substances, pursuant to orders received electronically issued by physicians for patients who are alleged to have ordered the drugs via the internet. Additionally, the Department was not notified 30 days in advance of the pharmacy&#x27;s closing. [1]<p>----<p>Street Address: 912 e 131st st, EVERGREEN PARK, Il 60805, US Website Address: RXINFODEPOT.COM^^VIAGRACHEAP.COM Company Email: gamble8@msn.com [2]<p>Now a thrift store: st vincent de paul... Le Roux :-P<p>---<p>email above is associated with C-21 Dabbs &amp; Associates [3]<p>maps: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.google.com&#x2F;maps&#x2F;@41.607956,-87.8476405,3a,50.4y,88.19h,77.68t&#x2F;data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s55dlJbV4C59beOXaBWsY7g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.google.com&#x2F;maps&#x2F;@41.607956,-87.8476405,3a,50.4y,...</a><p>----<p>&quot;Mr. Erskine A. Cartwright entered into rest on Sunday, February 23, 2014&quot; [4]<p>---<p>The other registered location is 974 East 133rd St [5]<p>---<p>re c21 dabbs president - Karen Capriotti, Richton Park – real estate managing broker license (471-015345) automatically revoked for violating the terms of a non-disciplinary order issued by the Department on April 8, 2013. [6]<p>---<p>Erskine A. Cartwright, contributor of excellence to the Xavier University [7]<p>---<p>disciplined in 2011<p>Probation 01&#x2F;01&#x2F;2012 12&#x2F;31&#x2F;2013 after information came to Department&#x27;s attention indicating that from on or about the Fall of 2006 and continuing until on or about the Summer of 2007, the pharmacy dispensed a substantial quantity of prescription drugs, including controlled substances, p ursuant to orders received electronically issued by physiicans for patients who are alleged to have ordered the drugs via the internet; the Department was not notified 30 days in advance of the pharmacy&#x27;s closing.<p>Suspension 12&#x2F;01&#x2F;2011 12&#x2F;31&#x2F;2011 after information came to Department&#x27;s attention indicating that from on or about the Fall of 2006 and continuing until on or about the Summer of 2007, the pharmacy dispensed a substantial quantity of prescription drugs, including controlled substances, p ursuant to orders received electronically issued by physiicans for patients who are alleged to have ordered the drugs via the internet; the Department was not notified 30 days in advance of the pharmacy&#x27;s closing. [8]<p>---<p>This just keeps on going.. He was married to Maggie Bell Cheatham Cartwright, mayor of the city of Keysville: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;augustafuneralnotices.com&#x2F;wp-content&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;2014&#x2F;03&#x2F;Erskine-Cartwright-.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;augustafuneralnotices.com&#x2F;wp-content&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;2014&#x2F;03&#x2F;...</a><p>---<p>1 <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.idfpr.com&#x2F;Forms&#x2F;DISCPLN&#x2F;1112_dis.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.idfpr.com&#x2F;Forms&#x2F;DISCPLN&#x2F;1112_dis.pdf</a><p>2 <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.subiz.us&#x2F;biz-il-58953.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.subiz.us&#x2F;biz-il-58953.html</a><p>3 <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;illinois.cevo.us&#x2F;company&#x2F;c-21-dabbs-s-associates.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;illinois.cevo.us&#x2F;company&#x2F;c-21-dabbs-s-associates.html</a><p>4 <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.legacy.com&#x2F;obituaries&#x2F;augustachronicle&#x2F;obituary.aspx?pid=169870252" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.legacy.com&#x2F;obituaries&#x2F;augustachronicle&#x2F;obituary.a...</a><p>5 <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.manta.com&#x2F;c&#x2F;mm7dlxl&#x2F;altgeld-gardens-drug-co" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.manta.com&#x2F;c&#x2F;mm7dlxl&#x2F;altgeld-gardens-drug-co</a><p>6 <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.idfpr.com&#x2F;forms&#x2F;discpln&#x2F;2013_09dis.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.idfpr.com&#x2F;forms&#x2F;discpln&#x2F;2013_09dis.pdf</a><p>7 <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.xula.edu&#x2F;mediarelations&#x2F;XUGold_Summer2011.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.xula.edu&#x2F;mediarelations&#x2F;XUGold_Summer2011.pdf</a><p>8 <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.idfpr.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.idfpr.com</a>

One of the things that annoys me about the series is we read only anout his botched stuff. None of the successes. He does not look like that big of a fish.