4 INDICTED FOR ROLES IN INTERNATIONAL COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY OPERATION HEADQUARTERED IN UGANDA

FROM:  U.S.  JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Four Charged in International Uganda-Based Cyber Counterfeiting Scheme

A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has indicted four people in connection with an international counterfeit currency operation headquartered in the African nation of Uganda, announced U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The indictment, returned on April 1, 2015, charges Ryan Andrew Gustafson, 27, aka “Jack Farrel” aka “Willy Clock,” a U.S. citizen currently incarcerated in Kampala, Uganda, Zackary L. Ruiz, 18, aka “Mr. Mouse,” of Las Vegas, Nevada, Jeremy J. Miller, 30, aka “Sinner,” of Seattle, Washington and Michael Q. Lin, 20, aka “Mlin” aka “Mr. Casino,” of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with conspiracy and counterfeiting acts committed within and outside of the U.S. from December 2013 until December 2014.

“Today we announce the dismantling of an international cyber conspiracy in which Ugandan-made counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes were being advertised, bought and sold through online criminal forums then passed in coffee shops and corner stores in neighborhoods across our country,” said U.S. Attorney Hickton.  “Working cooperatively with law enforcement partners in the U.S. and abroad, we were able to quickly infiltrate and disrupt this counterfeit trafficking network and limit losses.”

“The early and aggressive application of traditional and cyber investigative expertise and the cooperation and assistance of numerous domestic and international law enforcement agencies in this case led to the quick and efficient identification of conspirators in a widespread cyber-based counterfeiting network,” said Special Agent in Charge Eric P. Zahren of the U.S. Secret Service Pittsburgh Field Office, “but as importantly, minimized financial losses in the U.S. and elsewhere, consistent with our charge to protect our currency, our commerce and, ultimately, our communities.”

According to the indictment, in late December 2013, Gustafson created his own dark web website called Community-X, which was dedicated to the manufacturing, selling, buying, distribution and passing of counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs), which he claimed to have manufactured.  The website contained forums where members discussed the counterfeit bills and shared tips on how best to pass, ship and distribute counterfeit FRNs.

In September 2014, Gustafson redesigned this website into two different sites, a Community-X HQ site, with controlled access and a Community-X Recruitment Center site, which was accessible to the public.  Gustafson, Ruiz and Miller were active members of both sites.  Lin was only a member of the Recruitment Site.

Gustafson and others allegedly sold these counterfeit FRNs to purchasers in the U.S.  From December 2013 through February 2014, an associate of Gustafson sent DHL packages containing these counterfeit FRNs to individuals in the U.S.  After February 2014, Gustafson had the counterfeit FRNs smuggled into the U.S. by hiding the counterfeit FRNs in glued together pages of fake charity pamphlets.

The indictment alleges that Ruiz, Miller and Lin had varied levels of roles and responsibilities as participants in the conspiracy.  In particular, the indictment alleges that Ruiz and others unpacked the counterfeit FRNs, that Ruiz, Miller and others treated the counterfeit FRNs to prepare them for passing and used the U.S. Postal Service to mail the treated FRNs to re-shippers and to purchasers and that Lin was a purchaser of the FRNs, who offered a guide on how to pass the counterfeit notes through casinos.

The indictment alleges more than $1.4 million in counterfeit FRNs have been seized and passed worldwide, both overseas and in the U.S. as part of this scheme.

Gustafson was charged by Ugandan authorities on Dec. 16, 2014, with conspiracy, possession of counterfeit, selling/dealing in counterfeit and unlawful possession of ammunition. He is presently on trial in Uganda on their charges.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both, on the conspiracy count; a maximum total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both, on the conspiracy to commit money laundering count; and a maximum total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of 250,000, or both, on each of the passing and receiving counterfeit money counts.  Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended numerous agencies and organizations for conducting the investigation leading to charges in this case, including the U.S. Secret Service in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, California, Seattle, Washington, Las Vegas, Nevada, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Charlotte, North Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina, Baltimore, Maryland, Minnesota, Miami, Florida, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, Ohio, Denver, Colorado, Phoenix, Arizona, Rome, Italy, Pretoria, South Africa and the Criminal Investigative Division in Washington, D.C., the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Pittsburgh, Seattle, Las Vegas, Philadelphia and Charlotte, the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Pittsburgh Division, Homeland Security Investigations in Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cincinnati, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the National Cyber-Forensics & Training Alliance.

STRATEGIC COMMAND AND WARFIGHTERS

Warfighters might not realize it, but U.S. Strategic Command provides many of the capabilities they rely on in combat operations. Here, Army 1st Lt. Michael Kim, platoon leader of 2nd Platoon, Apache Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, checks his location with a handheld GPS -- a capability provided through Stratcom -- while on patrol in southern Afghanistan, July 30, 2012. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Matt Young.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Strategic Command Provides Vital Warfighter, Operational Support
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2013 - While providing the deterrence to protect the United States from a strategic attack, U.S. Strategic Command is playing a very real, yet often unrecognized, role in operations in Afghanistan and around the globe, its commander, Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehler, reported.

"I joke to theater combatant commanders and tell them, 'There isn't anything you do that Stratcom doesn't touch,'" Kehler told American Forces Press Service during an interview here.

"At first they would push back on that," he said, not immediately recognizing Stratcom as the behind-the-scenes force that drives many of the capabilities they rely on every day.

Kehler said he reminds them that Stratcom is the driving force behind satellites that allow them to communicate, cyber defenses that protect their networks, and GPS capabilities that help them navigate and, when necessary, lock in on and engage targets. In addition, the command coordinates the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities that give U.S. and coalition forces a decisive edge on the battlefield that saves lives.

"We are in the fight everywhere U.S. military people operate, communicate, have global awareness and local awareness," Kehler said. "In all those cases, there is some piece of that that is either provided by or enabled by Strategic Command."

Despite being central to military operations, that support largely is transparent to users, he acknowledged.

"We are providing real-time, day-to-day capability for space and for cyber. We are providing the ballistic missile defense system. We are providing the synchronization for combating weapons of mass destruction," Kehler said.

"We are providing the synchronization activity for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance on a global basis," he continued. "We are providing analysis and targeting on a global basis, to include the cruise missile support activities for the Atlantic and Pacific. We are providing the long-range global fires through global strike, if those are required in the theater."

For example, Stratcom provided global-strike capability for U.S. Africa Command during the opening days of Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya, Kehler said.

In addition, Strategic Command provides the oversight and tactics, techniques and procedures to ensure military operators have uncontested access to the electromagnetic spectrum.

That access, required for almost every modern technical device, "provides us the opportunity to communicate with one another and to share data across long distances," Kehler said. "It's the glue that binds us all together."

Stratcom's challenge, he said, is to ensure all U.S. forces have access to and control of this spectrum that provides the a vital military advantage, while protecting against vulnerabilities adversaries might try to exploit through jamming or "dazzling" that makes sensors inoperable.

Kehler offered high praise for the men and women of Stratcom for their behind-the-scenes contributions to the wartime mission and to every other military operation around the world.

"We believe we are standing in the theaters, shoulder-to-shoulder, with theater combatant commanders," Kehler said. "We are essential to the function of the geographic combatant commands. And we are critical in the fight."

Meanwhile, Stratcom continues to provide what Kehler called the ultimate form of support for those charged with defending the nation: deterrence that prevents conflict from breaking out in the first place, and if it does, from escalating.

"We don't want to fight a war. We don't want to get there. We would rather be in some place where we have prevented one," Kehler said. "And we think that deterrence and assuring our allies, contribute to the prevention of conflict, which is where we would rather be."