Brit, 20, ‘made millions after setting up a dark web marketplace at the age of 17 by selling drugs and ransomware to crooks’
A 20-year-old Briton who allegedly made millions after setting up a dark web marketplace at the age of 17 has appeared in a Dutch court.
The British national, publicly referred to as Finlay H, is accused of developing and maintaining the website that sold illegal goods, including drugs, fake IDs and ransomware that could be used by hackers.
He was arrested at Schiphol Airport in June and appeared in court in Rotterdam yesterday for a procedural hearing.
H and an Irish national, who was arrested in Ireland over the summer, are both accused of running the website known as Bohemia.
Bohemia grew into one of the largest dark web marketplaces of its kind. At the time of the arrests, police had seized more than £6 million worth of virtual currency.
The British national known as Finlay H is accused of developing and maintaining a website that sold illegal goods including drugs, fake IDs and ransomware that could be used by hackers (stock image)
Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. H was arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in June and appeared in court in Rotterdam yesterday for a procedural hearing (stock image)
Since Dutch police began their investigation into Bohemia in 2022, it is estimated that an average of 67,000 transactions have been carried out per month, leading to a record turnover of £10 million in September last year.
The investigation, which also involved British, Irish and American police, found that an eye-watering £1.4 million worth of transactions had passed through the Netherlands.
Bohemia was reportedly shut down in late 2023 in what could reportedly be an “exit scam” – a form of fraud where its members abscond with the money tied to the company.
Addressing the site’s closure in November, Bohemia said in a statement that an “embarrassing and disgruntling series of events” had led to a developer going “rogue” and withdrawing a small amount of Bitcoin from the website in a month . Searchlight Cyber said.
In a statement reported by Dutch news Stan Dujif, head of operations at the Dutch Police: ‘Managers, sellers and buyers of and on illegal marketplaces often think that they are elusive to the police and the judiciary.
‘By conducting criminal investigations and prosecuting these criminals, it becomes clear that the dark web is not as anonymous as users may think. Due to international cooperation, the credibility and reliability of these markets has once again been seriously damaged.’
After his appearance in court, H will remain in custody for a further period.