When Anthony Murgio took over a credit union as a front tooperate an illegal Bitcoin operation, he posted on Facebook that heneeded a CEO.

“Anyone interested in running a credit union in New Jersey? Weare looking for a new CEO,” Murgio's Facebook post read, accordingto a local media report.

Murgio, 33, of Tampa, Fla., pleaded guilty Monday to chargesassociated with operating Coin.mx, an online Bitcoin exchangethrough which he processed more than $10 million in illegaltransactions. He also used Helping Other People Excel FederalCredit Union to conceal the scheme.

He also pled guilty to conspiring to obstruct an examination ofthe credit union by the NCUA to cover up what was really goingon.

Murgio, along with his father, Michael J. Murgio of Palm Beach,Fla., made $150,000 in bribes to Trevon Gross, former board chairof the conserved credit union that was based in Lakewood,N.J.

Michael Murgio, a former Palm Beach School board member, pleadedguilty in October to one felony count of conspiracy to obstructan examination of a federal financial institution. Anotherco-defendant, Jose M. Freundt, also pled guilty in October toconspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business,operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and conspiracyto corruptly make payments to an officer of a financialinstitution.

Since late 2013, Anthony Murgio and Yuri Lebedev ofJacksonville, Fla., operated Coin.mx. Federal prosecutors saidAnthony Murgio, Lebedev and other coconspirators profited from numerousBitcoin transactions conducted on behalf of customers whosought Bitcoins to buy drugs at Darknet websites. These websitesoperate as online black market bazaars that allow vendors andbuyers to conduct illegal transactions anonymously, according tocourt documents.

Before taking over the credit union, Murgio and hiscoconspirators concealed the Bitcoin exchange by operating throughphony front companies and websites such as collectible clubs. Theyused these fake clubs to trick financial institutions intobelieving their Bitcoin exchange was a members-only association whobought and sold collectable items.

That bogus story enabled Murgio to open bank accounts in thename of the collectible clubs. Murgio and his coconspiratorsalso told their association members to lie to credit card issuingbanks about the Bitcoin transactions that they were executingthrough Coin.mx.

But the lies didn't hold up, because the records of the accountsfor the collectables clubs showed thousands of incoming deposits invarying amounts from individuals, some of whom in wire transferinstructions noted that their payment was for Bitcoins.Additionally, the bank records also revealed numerous payments weremade to entities that sell Bitcoins in exchange for U.S. dollarsand other currency.

In April 2014, in a new strategy to evade scrutiny fromfinancial institutions about the illegal Coin.mx operations, Murgioobtained control of the credit union. Court records do not explainwhy Murgio targeted the credit union. Prosecutors declined torespond to CU Times' request for comment.

In addition to bribing Gross, Murgio managed control over thecredit union by installing individuals close to him, includingLebedev, on the credit union's board of directors.

In late 2014, Murgio, Lebedev and Gross obstructed an NCUAexamination by attempting to mislead examiners about the financialhealth of the cooperative and the eligibility of Lebedev and otherboard members that were selected by Murgio.

By October 2015, the NCUA placed the $290,927, 96-member HelpingOther People Excel FCU into conservatorship.

What's more, federal prosecutors have alleged that the owner ofCoin.mx was Gery Shalon, the leader and self-described founder of asprawling criminal enterprise that raked in hundreds of millions ofdollars in illicit proceeds. According to court documents, Shalonconcealed at least $100 million in Swiss and other bankaccounts.

From 2012 to mid-2015, Shalon allegedly orchestrated massivecomputer hacking crimes against several U.S. financialinstitutions, including JP Morgan Chase Bank, and nationalinvestment brokers Scott Trade, E*Trade and the Dow Jones &Co., which led to the largest theft of personal information from U.S.financial institutions ever, according to federalprosecutors.

Federal prosecutors said personal information belonging to morethan 100 million customers from these financial institutions wasstolen. Of that total, the JP Morgan Chase accounts of 76 millionhouseholds and seven million small businesses were compromised.

From 2007 to 2015, Shalon also owned unlawful internet gamblingbusinesses in the U.S. and abroad, as well as multinational paymentprocessors for illegal pharmaceutical suppliers, counterfeit andmalicious software distributors, and unlawful internet casinos.

Shalon and two other men, Joshua Samuel Aaron and Ziv Orenstein,operated the business and ran various criminal schemes, federalprosecutors alleged.

Shalon, Aaron and Orenstein allegedly used personal IDs they hadstolen to send out emails to unsuspecting investors to promote andpump up the price of publicly traded penny stocks that the threemen and others owned. Once the price of the penny stock increasedover the course of days or weeks, Shalon, Aaron and Orensteindumped their shares, often resulting in millions of dollars inprofits while exposing investors to significant losses.

The three were indicted on multiple felony counts of wire,computer and identity fraud.

Aaron, 32, was arrested in December at JFK InternationalAirport. He had been on the run and lived in Russia. He has notentered a plea yet and remains in custody. He allegedly hacked intothe networks of dozens of American companies, prosecutors said.

Shalon and Orenstein were also on the run in Israel and werearrested by authorities there in July 2015. They were extradited tothe U.S. in June 2016. Legal proceedings are pending againstthem. Their legal proceedings are pending in U.S. District Court inManhatten.

Trials for Gross and Lebedev, who both pleaded not guilty tofelony charges, are scheduled to begin in February.