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RCMP Look Stupid As Intelligence Director Arrested For Stealing Highly Classified Info.
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Greg Carr
Sep 16, 2019, 10:30:29 PM9/16/19
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Secrets in hands of alleged RCMP spy would cause 'devastating' damage to Canada, allies: documents
Security services covertly searched Cameron Ortis's condo in August
Catharine Tunney, Peter Zimonjic · CBC News · Posted: Sep 16, 2019 6:57 PM ET | Last Updated: an hour ago
A covert search of Cameron Ortis' condo revealed hand written notes for how to remove metadata from documents, according to documents seen by CBC. (Sketch by Laurie Foster-MacLeod for CBC News)
The cache of classified intelligence material an RCMP official was allegedly preparing to share with a foreign entity or terrorist organization is so vital to Canada's national security that the country's intelligence agencies say its misuse strikes at the heart of Canada's sovereignty and security, documents seen by CBC News reveal.
According to an assessment by the Communications Security Establishment, Canada's cybersecurity agency, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Cameron Ortis, the director general of the RCMP's national intelligence co-ordination centre, had material that, if released, would cause a "HIGH"—in all caps— degree of damage to Canada and its allies.
"Analysis of the contents of the reports could reasonably lead a foreign intelligence agency to draw significant conclusions about allied and Canadian intelligence targets, techniques, methods and capabilities," the documents said.
"This type of information is among the most highly protected of national security assets, by any government standard and goes to the heart of Canada's sovereignty and security."
The documents say that the possible dissemination of the documents would threaten Canada's relations with its allies.
RCMP surveying potential damage in wake of charges against top intelligence official
Federal parties being warned of efforts by 6 foreign countries to influence election: sources
Intelligence community reeling after RCMP director accused of violating secrets act
"CSE's preliminary assessment is that damage caused by the release of these reports and intelligence is HIGH (sic) and potentially devastating in that it would cause grave injury to Canada's national interests."
An assessment by CSIS says that while the agency has only had time to conduct a preliminary examination of the documents in Ortis's possession, they contain "sensitive intelligence that was highly classified in nature."
"Disclosure of such information beyond the intended audience may reveal not only the classified content of the particular reporting, but could possibly lead to the discovery of sensitive sources and methods with grave consequences.
"The loss of such information could also lead to a loss of confidence by our foreign partners," the CSIS analysis in the documents said.
Covert search of condo
The documents reveal that Ortis's condo was covertly searched last month and a number of handwritten notes were discovered providing instructions on how to wash metadata from PDF files.
The documents, of which CBC News has only seen parts, say that about 25 documents had been "sanitized to remove identifying information."
The documents also reveal that Ortis was just over $90,000 in debt.
The papers reveal, as reported by Global News, that the security services first got wind of Ortis through a separate investigation of Phantom Secure Communications, a B.C.-based company under investigation for providing encrypted communication devices to international criminals.
'I have information ... you will find very valuable'
In March of last year, the FBI revealed that it had taken down an international criminal communications service based in Canada that had a revenue of $80 million over the last decade. The operation resulted in the seizure of 1,000 phones that the FBI said were being used to facilitate murders and drug smuggling.
The documents seen by CBC News say the FBI investigation discovered in 2018 that a person was sending emails to Vincent Ramos, the CEO of Phantom Secure Communications, offering to provide valuable information.
The documents allege that person was Ortis.
"You don't know me. I have information that I am confident you will find very valuable," one email contained in the documents said.
A subsequent email promised to provide "intel about your associates and individuals using their network internationally."
Charges under the Security of Information Act
Over the span of his career Ortis had some of the highest access to classified and allied information within the RCMP. Sources familiar with his work said he would have had knowledge of code words and operations.
Ortis was charged under a section of the Security of Information Act that applies to individuals "permanently bound to secrecy" as a condition of their work — which strongly suggests he had access to top secret material.
Under the Security of Information Act, Ortis has also been charged with:
Unauthorized communication of special operational information.
Preparing for the commission of an offence by obtaining or gaining access to information, or possessing any device, apparatus or software used for concealing, surreptitiously communicating or obtaining information.
One of the charges stems from 2015, while the others span a year, going back to September of 2018.
Ortis made a brief court appearance last Friday. He remains in custody with a bail hearing set for this Friday.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ortis-cse-csis-documents-devistating-1.5285970
================================================================================
Head of Vancouver encryption company pleads guilty to racketeering in U.S.
Vince Ramos, founder of a Vancouver encryption company that supplied untraceable BlackBerry devices to organized crime groups around the world, has pleaded guilty to racketeering in Southern California. Phantom Secure CEO Vincent Ramos appeared before U.S. District Court Magistrate Barbara Lynn Major in a San Diego courtroom Tuesday and admitted to leading a criminal enterprise that facilitated international drug smuggling "through the sale and service of encrypted communications devices."
Kim Bolan Updated: October 2, 2018
The United States has arrested the chief executive of Phantom Secure, a Canadian privacy and security firm, alleging the Vancouver-area resident has conspired to provide drug traffickers with modified BlackBerry smartphones to evade law enforcement. Screenshot from webpage of Vancouver company Phantom Secure. PNG
The founder of a Vancouver encryption company that supplied untraceable BlackBerry devices to organized crime groups around the world has pleaded guilty to racketeering in Southern California.
Phantom Secure CEO Vincent Ramos appeared before U.S. District Court Magistrate Barbara Lynn Major in a San Diego courtroom Tuesday and admitted to leading a criminal enterprise that facilitated international drug smuggling “through the sale and service of encrypted communications devices.”
In his plea deal, Ramos admitted that he and his associates helped distribute cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine to locations in Canada, the U.S., Australia, Mexico, Thailand and Europe.
Ramos, who lived with his family in Richmond until his arrest earlier this year, maintained Phantom Secure servers in Panama and Hong Kong — hidden behind virtual proxy servers — and even remotely wiped devices seized by law enforcement.
Some of his customers included members of the notorious Sinaloa cartel of Mexico, court documents said.
Ramos and his co-conspirators would only sell devices to customers who had a personal reference from an existing client. And Ramos used digital currencies, including Bitcoin, to facilitate financial transactions for Phantom Secure to protect users’ anonymity and launder proceeds from Phantom Secure.
He admitted that at least 450 kilograms of cocaine were distributed using Phantom Secure devices.
As part of his guilty plea, Ramos agreed to a US$80 million forfeiture judgment, as well as the forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars in identified assets, ranging from bank accounts worldwide, to houses, to a Lamborghini, to cryptocurrency accounts and gold coins. But the plea deal also said the U.S. would not seize two Lower Mainland properties, vehicles and bank accounts used by his family.
Ramos also agreed to forfeit the server licences and over 150 domains which were being used to operate the infrastructure of the Phantom Secure network, enabling it to send and receive encrypted messages for criminals.
“The Phantom Secure encrypted communication service was designed with one purpose — to provide drug traffickers and other violent criminals with a secure means by which to communicate openly about criminal activity without fear of detection by law enforcement,” U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman said in a news release. “As a result of this investigation, Phantom Secure has been dismantled and its CEO Vincent Ramos now faces a significant prison sentence. The United States will investigate and prosecute anyone who provides support, in any form, to criminal organizations, including those who try to help criminal organizations ‘go dark’ on law enforcement.”
FBI Special Agent John Brown, who heads the San Diego field office, said Ramos’s guilty plea “is a significant strike against transnational organized crime.”
“The FBI and our international law enforcement partners have demonstrated that we will not be deterred by those who exploit encryption to benefit criminal organizations and assist in evading law enforcement,” Brown said. “With this case, we have successfully shut down the communication network of dangerous criminals who operated across the globe.”
Ramos’s co-defendants — Kim Augustus Rodd, Younes Nasri, Michael Gamboa and Christopher Poquiz — remain international fugitives.
Ramos is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 17. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail, but the plea agreement states that U.S. authorities won’t oppose his transfer to a Canadian prison after he’s served at least five years south of the border.
Ramos founded Phantom Secure Communications in Vancouver in 2008. The company then branched out to the U.S., Australia, Dubai, Panama, Hong Kong and Thailand.
Born in Winnipeg in 1977, Ramos moved with his family to Richmond at age four. He attended Kwantlen for two years and studied business before embarking on a career selling Amway products, according to documents filed in court by his lawyer. He then worked for Rogers Cellular before deciding to go into business for himself.
https://vancouversun.com/news/crime/head-of-vancouver-encryption-company-pleads-guilty-to-racketeering-in-u-s
===============================================================================
Richmond, B.C. Man Sentenced To 8 Years In Prison For Selling Encrypted Blackberrys To Organized Crime Including HAMC.
AP
Canadian sentenced for selling encrypted phones to criminals
May 28, 2019 Updated May 28, 2019 0
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Canadian man who sold encrypted Blackberry smartphones to criminals worldwide that enabled them to sell drugs and even plan murders while avoiding the prying eyes of law enforcement was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in prison.
Vincent Ramos, 41, of Richmond in the Vancouver area was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in San Diego. He pleaded guilty last fall to one count of racketeering conspiracy.
Ramos also was told to forfeit $80 million in earnings, which included homes, international bank account holdings, cryptocurrency and gold coins.
Ramos ran a company called Phantom Secure that offered gutted, uncrackable smartphones that, for a subscription, could send encrypted text messages through a secure network based in Panama and Hong Kong.
The company also could wipe the phones remotely if they were seized.
Prosecutors said Ramos' clients included the Sinaloa drug cartel of Mexico and a global drug-trafficking and illicit gambling organization run by former University of Southern California football player Owen Hanson. Hanson is serving a 21-year prison sentence.
Other clients were Hells Angels in Australia who used them to coordinate several killings, authorities said. Ramos boasted about his wares after seeing a 2014 news report that said use of his encrypted devices by a suspect in one high-profile murder had hampered the investigation.
At least 7,000 of the phones were sold.
"The scope of this case is staggering," Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Young said, calling Ramos' clients "some of the most sophisticated criminals in the world using some of the most sophisticated technology in the world."
It was the first U.S. conviction involving someone who provided encryption technology to criminal organizations. Four of Ramos' co-defendants remain at large.
"I am sorry and accept responsibility for my actions that have led me here today," Ramos told Judge William Hayes. He said he turned "a blind eye" to the use of his phones — which were marketed as a tool for business executives — for international drug sales.
But prosecutors said Ramos set up his system intentionally to block interception of criminal communications by law enforcement.
The anonymous clients used nicknames that included "leadslinger, The.cartel, The.killa, Elchapo66 and Knee—capper9," the San Diego Union-Tribune reported .
In a 2018 text message, Ramos urged an employee to get a brand new Range Rover "cuz I just closed a lot of business. This week man. Sinaloa cartel, that's what's up."
Ramos was arrested last year in Washington state and his secure communications network was dismantled.
Some 250 law enforcement agents from the U.S, Canada and Australia reportedly were involved in the investigation.
———
Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.utsandiego.com
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
https://www.kpvi.com/news/national_news/canadian-sentenced-for-selling-encrypted-phones-to-criminals/article_6ab6977f-a8d9-5eea-bf67-a74a1409ffa1.html
===========================================================================
World’s leading company for communications tech for money laundering and drug trafficking used by top transnational criminal organizations for 10 years, created in Vancouver, Canada
By Christine Duhaime | April 26th, 2019
World leader in organized crime communications was launched in Vancouver, Canada
A Vancouver company, called Phantom Secure, a little over a year ago, was the world leader in providing illegal encrypted communication services for the top international drug traffickers in the world.
But perhaps no more. On March 8, 2018, the CEO of Phantom Secure, a Vancouver resident named Vincent Ramos, was arrested in San Diego and charged by the US government with orchestrating and planning racketeering activities including money laundering, illegal gambling and drug trafficking during a ten year period from his office in Vancouver.
Phantom Secure provided Blackberry devices and an encrypted service to the top echelons of transnational organized crime to allow them to conduct drug trafficking activities undetected around the world. It did so by using multiple VPNs with servers in Panama and by custom managing the entire communication chain for gangsters. For example, it could remotely wipe data from Blackberry devices on behalf of gangsters if they were arrested or compromised. Technology wise, Phantom Secure re-configured Blackberry devices to limit their functionality so that they could only be used for limited functions and therefore, they could control the communications and ensure access to law enforcement was restricted by encryption.
According to Ramos, Panama was selected because “it does not help other countries with investigations and does not recognize tax evasion as a crime.”
A person could join the Vancouver-based Phantom network only if a cartel member or high-level member of organized crime referred them to Ramos. It would appear that most of the communications and network services were provided to the Mexican cartel, or their affiliates, to allow the movement of illegal drugs globally.
El Chapo, The Killer, The Narco
The Blackberry devices provided to organized crime were connected to domains owned by Phantom and consistent with the type of clientele the Vancouver-based enterprise catered to, its customers were given handles to communicate reflective of their organized criminal activities, such as:
ElC...@lockedpgp.com – El Chapo
TheC...@freedomsecure.me – The Cartel
Na...@lockedpgp.com – Narco
KneeC...@lockedpgp.com – Knee Capper
LeadS...@freedomsecure.me – Lead Slinger
TheK...@freedomsecure.me – The Killer
There were 20,000 devices connected to the Vancouver based Phantom Secure network, and according to the FBI, not one device was ever used for non-criminal purposes.
Bitcoin as the preferred payment method of organized crime
In order to receive payments from organized crime anonymously, Ramos received Bitcoin and operated through a series of shell companies. In 2015, the RCMP managed to successfully infiltrate Phantom Secure, acquire several devices and subscribe to the service, posing as drug traffickers. Ramos, at one point, informed a user that he built the Phantom technology system specifically for international drug trafficking.
And yes, right here in Vancouver.
Using the Phantom service, over the course of ten years, drug traffickers were able to move drugs from Mexico into the US, Canada and to Australia. Ramos was investigated, arrested and indicted with the assistance of the FBI, RCMP, Australian police and several others. But not in Canada, his own country – he was indicted and prosecuted in the US.
$80 million in proceeds of crime forfeited
In October 2018, Ramos pleaded guilty to conspiracy in California to conducting a criminal enterprise and admitted he assisted drug traffickers to traffic and distribute drugs around the world.
He agreed to forfeit US$80 million in proceeds of crime to the US government as part of his plea agreement. He has assets that include Bitcoin, Dash, Eth and XRP at nine different digital currency exchanges including Bittrex, Binance and Poloniex, a mansion at 83 Crescent Road in Vancouver, had a house at 9688 Seagrave Road, Richmond, BC and a condo in Las Vegas. He has bank accounts at TD Bank and investments with TD Investments held in BC numbered companies, bank accounts at Coast Capital Savings ($142,000), BMO ($78,536), Bank of America ($95,000) and ScotiaBank. There are also bank accounts in Hong Kong, China, Ireland, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. And cash at vaults in Beverly Hills and at JP Morgan Chase equal to over $300,000 and shares with Canaccord and other investment brokers.
A mere cellular service provider acquires unexplained wealth of US$101 million
That a mere cellular service provider acquired such vast wealth in Vancouver in a few years to the tune of US$101 million, so many bank accounts with so much cash and real estate properties with no actual legal job and no AML process that was activated, is surprising particularly since the service was featured on a national television newscast months before the take-down of Ramos.
This week, the US government filed an application in San Diego to formally seize all of the assets worldwide including in Vancouver, Canada where many of the assets are chilling – some of it parked in real estate in Vancouver, bought with proceeds of crime.
Phantom Secure 2.0
On Twitter and Instagram, Phantom Secure came back to life after the incarceration of Ramos with a Bitcoin-only payment option. The company wrote on its Instagram account that because some users were associated with law enforcement and broke the “circle of trust”, the service was being re-booted. The hashtags #WeBack #BitcoinOnly #PhantomsBack #BackOnline were used. While the US government seized hundreds of domains from Phantom Secure as part of the take-down of the organization, the social media accounts remain active. According to their Instagram account, you can enter the new circle of trust through the doorway of Bitcoin.
Because Vancouver is also the capital of Bitcoin crime.
One post on Instagram reads: “The arc of technology is in the direction of unbreakable encryption, and no laws are going to get in the way of that reality.”
It appears that the law did indeed get in the way, at least for Ramos.
http://www.antimoneylaunderinglaw.com/2019/04/worlds-leading-company-in-communications-devices-used-by-top-transnational-criminal-organizations-in-vancouver-agrees-to-forfeit-80-million-in-proceeds-of-crime-to-us-government.html
===========================================================================
Why does the USA so often have to do the job when crime gangs operate in Canada? Hopefully Scheer will be able to make some progress on that front if he takes power in Oct. His party has my vote.
================================================================================
Ortis the alleged inside man at the RCMP is from Abbotsford, B.C. and Ramos the guy in prison is from Richmond, B.C. and the RCMP are saying Ortis was going to sell the info to criminal gangs or terrorists. Ramos was running a crime operation connected to the Hell's Angels in Australia who used his encrypted Blackberries to arrange murders. This thing stinks yet again to the high heavens. Corruption in B.C. and other parts of Canada by H.A.M.C. is well documented already yet the Trudeau Liberals refuse to ban the HAMC. Was Otis who was in debt planning to sell the confidential info to Hell's Angels. What would stop him from doing so since the man has no visible code of ethics? Scheer should turn this into a campaign issue because he has previously stated he would crackdown on organized crime and he specifically mentioned Hell's Angels.
Security services covertly searched Cameron Ortis's condo in August
Catharine Tunney, Peter Zimonjic · CBC News · Posted: Sep 16, 2019 6:57 PM ET | Last Updated: an hour ago
A covert search of Cameron Ortis' condo revealed hand written notes for how to remove metadata from documents, according to documents seen by CBC. (Sketch by Laurie Foster-MacLeod for CBC News)
The cache of classified intelligence material an RCMP official was allegedly preparing to share with a foreign entity or terrorist organization is so vital to Canada's national security that the country's intelligence agencies say its misuse strikes at the heart of Canada's sovereignty and security, documents seen by CBC News reveal.
According to an assessment by the Communications Security Establishment, Canada's cybersecurity agency, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Cameron Ortis, the director general of the RCMP's national intelligence co-ordination centre, had material that, if released, would cause a "HIGH"—in all caps— degree of damage to Canada and its allies.
"Analysis of the contents of the reports could reasonably lead a foreign intelligence agency to draw significant conclusions about allied and Canadian intelligence targets, techniques, methods and capabilities," the documents said.
"This type of information is among the most highly protected of national security assets, by any government standard and goes to the heart of Canada's sovereignty and security."
The documents say that the possible dissemination of the documents would threaten Canada's relations with its allies.
RCMP surveying potential damage in wake of charges against top intelligence official
Federal parties being warned of efforts by 6 foreign countries to influence election: sources
Intelligence community reeling after RCMP director accused of violating secrets act
"CSE's preliminary assessment is that damage caused by the release of these reports and intelligence is HIGH (sic) and potentially devastating in that it would cause grave injury to Canada's national interests."
An assessment by CSIS says that while the agency has only had time to conduct a preliminary examination of the documents in Ortis's possession, they contain "sensitive intelligence that was highly classified in nature."
"Disclosure of such information beyond the intended audience may reveal not only the classified content of the particular reporting, but could possibly lead to the discovery of sensitive sources and methods with grave consequences.
"The loss of such information could also lead to a loss of confidence by our foreign partners," the CSIS analysis in the documents said.
Covert search of condo
The documents reveal that Ortis's condo was covertly searched last month and a number of handwritten notes were discovered providing instructions on how to wash metadata from PDF files.
The documents, of which CBC News has only seen parts, say that about 25 documents had been "sanitized to remove identifying information."
The documents also reveal that Ortis was just over $90,000 in debt.
The papers reveal, as reported by Global News, that the security services first got wind of Ortis through a separate investigation of Phantom Secure Communications, a B.C.-based company under investigation for providing encrypted communication devices to international criminals.
'I have information ... you will find very valuable'
In March of last year, the FBI revealed that it had taken down an international criminal communications service based in Canada that had a revenue of $80 million over the last decade. The operation resulted in the seizure of 1,000 phones that the FBI said were being used to facilitate murders and drug smuggling.
The documents seen by CBC News say the FBI investigation discovered in 2018 that a person was sending emails to Vincent Ramos, the CEO of Phantom Secure Communications, offering to provide valuable information.
The documents allege that person was Ortis.
"You don't know me. I have information that I am confident you will find very valuable," one email contained in the documents said.
A subsequent email promised to provide "intel about your associates and individuals using their network internationally."
Charges under the Security of Information Act
Over the span of his career Ortis had some of the highest access to classified and allied information within the RCMP. Sources familiar with his work said he would have had knowledge of code words and operations.
Ortis was charged under a section of the Security of Information Act that applies to individuals "permanently bound to secrecy" as a condition of their work — which strongly suggests he had access to top secret material.
Under the Security of Information Act, Ortis has also been charged with:
Unauthorized communication of special operational information.
Preparing for the commission of an offence by obtaining or gaining access to information, or possessing any device, apparatus or software used for concealing, surreptitiously communicating or obtaining information.
One of the charges stems from 2015, while the others span a year, going back to September of 2018.
Ortis made a brief court appearance last Friday. He remains in custody with a bail hearing set for this Friday.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ortis-cse-csis-documents-devistating-1.5285970
================================================================================
Head of Vancouver encryption company pleads guilty to racketeering in U.S.
Vince Ramos, founder of a Vancouver encryption company that supplied untraceable BlackBerry devices to organized crime groups around the world, has pleaded guilty to racketeering in Southern California. Phantom Secure CEO Vincent Ramos appeared before U.S. District Court Magistrate Barbara Lynn Major in a San Diego courtroom Tuesday and admitted to leading a criminal enterprise that facilitated international drug smuggling "through the sale and service of encrypted communications devices."
Kim Bolan Updated: October 2, 2018
The United States has arrested the chief executive of Phantom Secure, a Canadian privacy and security firm, alleging the Vancouver-area resident has conspired to provide drug traffickers with modified BlackBerry smartphones to evade law enforcement. Screenshot from webpage of Vancouver company Phantom Secure. PNG
The founder of a Vancouver encryption company that supplied untraceable BlackBerry devices to organized crime groups around the world has pleaded guilty to racketeering in Southern California.
Phantom Secure CEO Vincent Ramos appeared before U.S. District Court Magistrate Barbara Lynn Major in a San Diego courtroom Tuesday and admitted to leading a criminal enterprise that facilitated international drug smuggling “through the sale and service of encrypted communications devices.”
In his plea deal, Ramos admitted that he and his associates helped distribute cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine to locations in Canada, the U.S., Australia, Mexico, Thailand and Europe.
Ramos, who lived with his family in Richmond until his arrest earlier this year, maintained Phantom Secure servers in Panama and Hong Kong — hidden behind virtual proxy servers — and even remotely wiped devices seized by law enforcement.
Some of his customers included members of the notorious Sinaloa cartel of Mexico, court documents said.
Ramos and his co-conspirators would only sell devices to customers who had a personal reference from an existing client. And Ramos used digital currencies, including Bitcoin, to facilitate financial transactions for Phantom Secure to protect users’ anonymity and launder proceeds from Phantom Secure.
He admitted that at least 450 kilograms of cocaine were distributed using Phantom Secure devices.
As part of his guilty plea, Ramos agreed to a US$80 million forfeiture judgment, as well as the forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars in identified assets, ranging from bank accounts worldwide, to houses, to a Lamborghini, to cryptocurrency accounts and gold coins. But the plea deal also said the U.S. would not seize two Lower Mainland properties, vehicles and bank accounts used by his family.
Ramos also agreed to forfeit the server licences and over 150 domains which were being used to operate the infrastructure of the Phantom Secure network, enabling it to send and receive encrypted messages for criminals.
“The Phantom Secure encrypted communication service was designed with one purpose — to provide drug traffickers and other violent criminals with a secure means by which to communicate openly about criminal activity without fear of detection by law enforcement,” U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman said in a news release. “As a result of this investigation, Phantom Secure has been dismantled and its CEO Vincent Ramos now faces a significant prison sentence. The United States will investigate and prosecute anyone who provides support, in any form, to criminal organizations, including those who try to help criminal organizations ‘go dark’ on law enforcement.”
FBI Special Agent John Brown, who heads the San Diego field office, said Ramos’s guilty plea “is a significant strike against transnational organized crime.”
“The FBI and our international law enforcement partners have demonstrated that we will not be deterred by those who exploit encryption to benefit criminal organizations and assist in evading law enforcement,” Brown said. “With this case, we have successfully shut down the communication network of dangerous criminals who operated across the globe.”
Ramos’s co-defendants — Kim Augustus Rodd, Younes Nasri, Michael Gamboa and Christopher Poquiz — remain international fugitives.
Ramos is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 17. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail, but the plea agreement states that U.S. authorities won’t oppose his transfer to a Canadian prison after he’s served at least five years south of the border.
Ramos founded Phantom Secure Communications in Vancouver in 2008. The company then branched out to the U.S., Australia, Dubai, Panama, Hong Kong and Thailand.
Born in Winnipeg in 1977, Ramos moved with his family to Richmond at age four. He attended Kwantlen for two years and studied business before embarking on a career selling Amway products, according to documents filed in court by his lawyer. He then worked for Rogers Cellular before deciding to go into business for himself.
https://vancouversun.com/news/crime/head-of-vancouver-encryption-company-pleads-guilty-to-racketeering-in-u-s
===============================================================================
Richmond, B.C. Man Sentenced To 8 Years In Prison For Selling Encrypted Blackberrys To Organized Crime Including HAMC.
AP
Canadian sentenced for selling encrypted phones to criminals
May 28, 2019 Updated May 28, 2019 0
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Canadian man who sold encrypted Blackberry smartphones to criminals worldwide that enabled them to sell drugs and even plan murders while avoiding the prying eyes of law enforcement was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in prison.
Vincent Ramos, 41, of Richmond in the Vancouver area was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in San Diego. He pleaded guilty last fall to one count of racketeering conspiracy.
Ramos also was told to forfeit $80 million in earnings, which included homes, international bank account holdings, cryptocurrency and gold coins.
Ramos ran a company called Phantom Secure that offered gutted, uncrackable smartphones that, for a subscription, could send encrypted text messages through a secure network based in Panama and Hong Kong.
The company also could wipe the phones remotely if they were seized.
Prosecutors said Ramos' clients included the Sinaloa drug cartel of Mexico and a global drug-trafficking and illicit gambling organization run by former University of Southern California football player Owen Hanson. Hanson is serving a 21-year prison sentence.
Other clients were Hells Angels in Australia who used them to coordinate several killings, authorities said. Ramos boasted about his wares after seeing a 2014 news report that said use of his encrypted devices by a suspect in one high-profile murder had hampered the investigation.
At least 7,000 of the phones were sold.
"The scope of this case is staggering," Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Young said, calling Ramos' clients "some of the most sophisticated criminals in the world using some of the most sophisticated technology in the world."
It was the first U.S. conviction involving someone who provided encryption technology to criminal organizations. Four of Ramos' co-defendants remain at large.
"I am sorry and accept responsibility for my actions that have led me here today," Ramos told Judge William Hayes. He said he turned "a blind eye" to the use of his phones — which were marketed as a tool for business executives — for international drug sales.
But prosecutors said Ramos set up his system intentionally to block interception of criminal communications by law enforcement.
The anonymous clients used nicknames that included "leadslinger, The.cartel, The.killa, Elchapo66 and Knee—capper9," the San Diego Union-Tribune reported .
In a 2018 text message, Ramos urged an employee to get a brand new Range Rover "cuz I just closed a lot of business. This week man. Sinaloa cartel, that's what's up."
Ramos was arrested last year in Washington state and his secure communications network was dismantled.
Some 250 law enforcement agents from the U.S, Canada and Australia reportedly were involved in the investigation.
———
Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.utsandiego.com
Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
https://www.kpvi.com/news/national_news/canadian-sentenced-for-selling-encrypted-phones-to-criminals/article_6ab6977f-a8d9-5eea-bf67-a74a1409ffa1.html
===========================================================================
World’s leading company for communications tech for money laundering and drug trafficking used by top transnational criminal organizations for 10 years, created in Vancouver, Canada
By Christine Duhaime | April 26th, 2019
World leader in organized crime communications was launched in Vancouver, Canada
A Vancouver company, called Phantom Secure, a little over a year ago, was the world leader in providing illegal encrypted communication services for the top international drug traffickers in the world.
But perhaps no more. On March 8, 2018, the CEO of Phantom Secure, a Vancouver resident named Vincent Ramos, was arrested in San Diego and charged by the US government with orchestrating and planning racketeering activities including money laundering, illegal gambling and drug trafficking during a ten year period from his office in Vancouver.
Phantom Secure provided Blackberry devices and an encrypted service to the top echelons of transnational organized crime to allow them to conduct drug trafficking activities undetected around the world. It did so by using multiple VPNs with servers in Panama and by custom managing the entire communication chain for gangsters. For example, it could remotely wipe data from Blackberry devices on behalf of gangsters if they were arrested or compromised. Technology wise, Phantom Secure re-configured Blackberry devices to limit their functionality so that they could only be used for limited functions and therefore, they could control the communications and ensure access to law enforcement was restricted by encryption.
According to Ramos, Panama was selected because “it does not help other countries with investigations and does not recognize tax evasion as a crime.”
A person could join the Vancouver-based Phantom network only if a cartel member or high-level member of organized crime referred them to Ramos. It would appear that most of the communications and network services were provided to the Mexican cartel, or their affiliates, to allow the movement of illegal drugs globally.
El Chapo, The Killer, The Narco
The Blackberry devices provided to organized crime were connected to domains owned by Phantom and consistent with the type of clientele the Vancouver-based enterprise catered to, its customers were given handles to communicate reflective of their organized criminal activities, such as:
ElC...@lockedpgp.com – El Chapo
TheC...@freedomsecure.me – The Cartel
Na...@lockedpgp.com – Narco
KneeC...@lockedpgp.com – Knee Capper
LeadS...@freedomsecure.me – Lead Slinger
TheK...@freedomsecure.me – The Killer
There were 20,000 devices connected to the Vancouver based Phantom Secure network, and according to the FBI, not one device was ever used for non-criminal purposes.
Bitcoin as the preferred payment method of organized crime
In order to receive payments from organized crime anonymously, Ramos received Bitcoin and operated through a series of shell companies. In 2015, the RCMP managed to successfully infiltrate Phantom Secure, acquire several devices and subscribe to the service, posing as drug traffickers. Ramos, at one point, informed a user that he built the Phantom technology system specifically for international drug trafficking.
And yes, right here in Vancouver.
Using the Phantom service, over the course of ten years, drug traffickers were able to move drugs from Mexico into the US, Canada and to Australia. Ramos was investigated, arrested and indicted with the assistance of the FBI, RCMP, Australian police and several others. But not in Canada, his own country – he was indicted and prosecuted in the US.
$80 million in proceeds of crime forfeited
In October 2018, Ramos pleaded guilty to conspiracy in California to conducting a criminal enterprise and admitted he assisted drug traffickers to traffic and distribute drugs around the world.
He agreed to forfeit US$80 million in proceeds of crime to the US government as part of his plea agreement. He has assets that include Bitcoin, Dash, Eth and XRP at nine different digital currency exchanges including Bittrex, Binance and Poloniex, a mansion at 83 Crescent Road in Vancouver, had a house at 9688 Seagrave Road, Richmond, BC and a condo in Las Vegas. He has bank accounts at TD Bank and investments with TD Investments held in BC numbered companies, bank accounts at Coast Capital Savings ($142,000), BMO ($78,536), Bank of America ($95,000) and ScotiaBank. There are also bank accounts in Hong Kong, China, Ireland, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. And cash at vaults in Beverly Hills and at JP Morgan Chase equal to over $300,000 and shares with Canaccord and other investment brokers.
A mere cellular service provider acquires unexplained wealth of US$101 million
That a mere cellular service provider acquired such vast wealth in Vancouver in a few years to the tune of US$101 million, so many bank accounts with so much cash and real estate properties with no actual legal job and no AML process that was activated, is surprising particularly since the service was featured on a national television newscast months before the take-down of Ramos.
This week, the US government filed an application in San Diego to formally seize all of the assets worldwide including in Vancouver, Canada where many of the assets are chilling – some of it parked in real estate in Vancouver, bought with proceeds of crime.
Phantom Secure 2.0
On Twitter and Instagram, Phantom Secure came back to life after the incarceration of Ramos with a Bitcoin-only payment option. The company wrote on its Instagram account that because some users were associated with law enforcement and broke the “circle of trust”, the service was being re-booted. The hashtags #WeBack #BitcoinOnly #PhantomsBack #BackOnline were used. While the US government seized hundreds of domains from Phantom Secure as part of the take-down of the organization, the social media accounts remain active. According to their Instagram account, you can enter the new circle of trust through the doorway of Bitcoin.
Because Vancouver is also the capital of Bitcoin crime.
One post on Instagram reads: “The arc of technology is in the direction of unbreakable encryption, and no laws are going to get in the way of that reality.”
It appears that the law did indeed get in the way, at least for Ramos.
http://www.antimoneylaunderinglaw.com/2019/04/worlds-leading-company-in-communications-devices-used-by-top-transnational-criminal-organizations-in-vancouver-agrees-to-forfeit-80-million-in-proceeds-of-crime-to-us-government.html
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Why does the USA so often have to do the job when crime gangs operate in Canada? Hopefully Scheer will be able to make some progress on that front if he takes power in Oct. His party has my vote.
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Ortis the alleged inside man at the RCMP is from Abbotsford, B.C. and Ramos the guy in prison is from Richmond, B.C. and the RCMP are saying Ortis was going to sell the info to criminal gangs or terrorists. Ramos was running a crime operation connected to the Hell's Angels in Australia who used his encrypted Blackberries to arrange murders. This thing stinks yet again to the high heavens. Corruption in B.C. and other parts of Canada by H.A.M.C. is well documented already yet the Trudeau Liberals refuse to ban the HAMC. Was Otis who was in debt planning to sell the confidential info to Hell's Angels. What would stop him from doing so since the man has no visible code of ethics? Scheer should turn this into a campaign issue because he has previously stated he would crackdown on organized crime and he specifically mentioned Hell's Angels.
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