Richmond resident Vincent Ramos’s underworld nicknames were “CEO” and “Business.” He was so successful in providing encrypted BlackBerries and other electronic devices to organized criminals that he raked in $80 million during his decade running Phantom Secure.
Ramos is set to be sentenced in California next month after pleading guilty last fall to a racketeering charge for assisting international drug traffickers. At the time, he agreed to a forfeiture of his abundant assets. There are local accounts in Coast Capital Savings, the Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank and TD. There are six U.S. accounts in the Bank of America, plus another in JP Morgan Chase. There are another four accounts in banks in Hong Kong, two in China, two in Ireland, one in Singapore and one in the United Arab Emirates.
And the U.S. Attorney wants items in a safety deposit box at JPMorgan Chase in Los Angeles, including another $86,450 U.S., 100 silver bricks, four Canadian $50 dollar coins and four Mexican 50 Peso coins. Though a total value is not listed for the assets identified in the forfeiture application, the court document says the proceeds “shall be credited against the total forfeiture amount of $80,000,000.”
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.