The founder of Liberty Reserve, a virtual currency used by cybercriminals around the world to launder proceeds of their illegal activity, has been extradited from Spain and arrived in the United States this afternoon.

Arthur Budovsky, 40, a citizen of Costa Rica, was arrested in Spain in May 2013 after being indicted by a grand jury in the Southern District of New York. Following his extradition by Spanish authorities, Budovsky arrived in New York this afternoon and will be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV on Oct. 11, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. Budovsky will be arraigned before U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote on Oct. 14, 2014, at 12:45 p.m.

“Arthur Budovsky allegedly built Liberty Reserve overseas to provide the international underworld with a crime-friendly digital currency and elude the scrutiny of American authorities. He even renounced his U.S. citizenship to try to escape facing justice in an American courtroom,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell.

“For years, Arthur Budovsky allegedly enabled criminals in the United States and around the world to process illegal payments and to launder billions of dollars in crime proceeds through Liberty Reserve,” said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. “Budovsky operated Liberty Reserve from Costa Rica, hoping to evade the reach of U.S. law enforcement. Thanks to the cooperative efforts of our law enforcement partners here and in Spain, he was apprehended and extradited to the United States where he will now face justice.”

According to allegations contained in the indictment and statements made in related court proceedings, Liberty Reserve was born out of Budovsky’s unsuccessful experience running a third-party exchange service, called Gold Age Inc., for another digital currency, called E-Gold. In or about 2006, Budovsky was convicted in New York State of operating Gold Age Inc. as an unlicensed money transmitting business. In 2007, the operators of E-Gold were also charged with criminal offenses, including money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and subsequently ceased doing business.

Liberty Reserve, which billed itself as the Internet’s “largest payment processor and money transfer system,” was created, structured and operated to help users conduct illegal transactions anonymously and launder the proceeds of their crimes. The indictment alleges that Budovsky devoted himself to building and expanding Liberty Reserve so that the company could profit from attracting more and more criminal customers, all while seeking to evade the scrutiny and reach of U.S. law enforcement authorities.

Liberty Reserve emerged as one of the principal money transfer agents used by cybercriminals around the world to distribute, store, and launder the proceeds of their illegal activity. Liberty Reserve was used extensively for illegal purposes, functioning as the bank of choice for the criminal underworld because it provided an infrastructure that enabled cybercriminals to conduct anonymous and untraceable financial transactions.