The founder of Liberty Reserve has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for using his Costa Rica-based virtual currency business to help cyber criminals launder money, the U.S. Department of Justice reported.

Arthur Budovsky, 42, the founder of the Costa Rica-based cyber-currency operation Liberty Reserve, pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiring to run a money laundering operation, the U.S. Department of Justice announced last Friday. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Arthur Budovsky, 40, who renounced his U.S. citizenship and acquired Costa Rica nationality in an apparent bid to avoid prosecution, faces a maximum of 30 years in prison if found guilty by a U.S. district court in Manhattan.

Budovsky is accused of being the "principal founder" of the Costa Rica-based scheme, which is accused of laundering more than $6 billion for criminals between 2006 and 2013.

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 30, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a Justice Department statement said.

A key defendant in the U.S. prosecution of the defunct digital currency company Liberty Reserve pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal charges of conspiracy and operating an illegal money remitting business, Reuters and Bloomberg reported yesterday.

Updated with comments from the U.S. Embassy, the Russian ambassador and Chukarev's parents. At 11:45 a.m. Costa Rican authorities escorted a handcuffed Maxim Chukharev on to a United flight 1081 bound for Newark, New Jersey. Chukharev, 27, will face trial in the United States along with four other co-defendants for his alleged role in what's considered largest money laundering scandal in history.

Arthur Budovsky is accused of being the "principal founder" of Liberty Reserve, a Costa Rica-based digital currency service alleged by the U.S. Justice Department to have laundered more than $6 billion for criminals.

MADRID – Arthur Budovsky, founder of the electronic payment platform Liberty Reserve, in a court appearance Monday denied committing any crimes and said he would fight U.S. efforts to extradite him from Spain. Spanish prosecutors, however, appeared in favor of granting the U.S. request.

U.S. prosecutors accuse 27-year-old Maxim Chukharev of helping build the biggest money laundering operation in history, Costa Rica-based online currency company Liberty Reserve. But Chukharev says he’s an innocent pawn in a high-stakes political drama.