From computer whiz to dark web suspect
QUEBECER BELIEVED BEHIND ALPHABAY DIES IN THAILAND JAIL CELL
As a child, Alexandre Cazes excelled in school and had a knack for computers. He was only 17 when he registered his first company, EBX Technologies, in Trois-Rivières, Que., producing software and designing websites for local businesses, including restaurants and a hair- transplant clinic.
But since moving to Thailand roughly four years ago, authorities allege Cazes had put his programming skills to darker uses, playing a central role in creating the illicit online marketplace AlphaBay, a forum for trade in narcotics, weapons and stolen personal information.
Cazes, 25, was arrested in Thailand at the request of U. S. authorities on July 5, the same day RCMP led an operation to seize computers and servers at addresses in Trois- Rivières, including his mother’s. Family members were also questioned.
A week later, Cazes was found dead in the Bangkok jail cell where he was being held pending extradition to the U. S. Thai police said he had hanged himself with a towel, according to a report in the Bangkok Post.
The news has shocked his family in Trois- Rivières, who knew he had amassed a fortune in Thailand but believed that it came from shrewd i nvestments and trading in the online currency Bitcoin. His mother has flown to Thailand to identify the body and make funeral arrangements. Cazes was married to a Thai and they were expecting their first child next month.
His father, Martin Cazes, declined comment Tuesday, saying only that there were developments in the investigation and he wanted to wait until the situation was clear.
In an interview Friday with local radio station 106.9 FM, he described his son as a gentle introvert who steered clear of trouble. “He never had a criminal record. He never smoked a cigarette, never took drugs,” Cazes said. “He was someone who never insulted anyone.”
He said Alex, as he was known, “was definitely a computer genius.” The father said he was questioned by RCMP and FBI investigators, and their questions led him to conclude they believe his son was closely connected to the founder of AlphaBay, known only by his online name Alpha02.
“Did someone approach him to create a market? Maybe yes, maybe no,” he said. “Maybe my son really created the program. Was he somehow forced to do it? I don’t know.”
The outward evidence was that Cazes was not experiencing any duress in Thailand. A profile photo he used on a messaging app shows him in front of a Lamborghini Aventador. His father confirmed that he owned three properties in Bangkok, but he said one was for his in-laws.
“It was not just buying houses for the fun of it,” he said.
Jakub Hanke, who met Cazes in Bangkok through an online forum for ex- pats, said the Canadian kept to himself.
“He never joined us for parties and kept his l i fe more for himself. I can’t say a bad word about him because while a bit awkward, he was always nice and helpful,” Hanke said.
He said he was aware Cazes drove a Porsche and then later a Lamborghini, but he was astounded to read in the Thai press that he was worth as much as $15 million.
“His explanation was that he earned it through early investing and then trading Bitcoin,” he said.
Edward J. McAndrew, a former cyber-crime prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said AlphaBay, which shut down following Cazes’ arrest, would have been a highly profitable enterprise. Launched in 2014, it is part of the dark web, which uses encrypted technology to shield users’ identity. In the U. S., prosecutors this year have charged at least two men for separate operations selling opioids over AlphaBay. The U.S. magazine Wired has estimated that the site was bringing in between US$600,000 and US$800,000 in revenue every day.
McAndrew said the dark web can perform a valuable service, for example providing anonymity to people opposing repressive regimes. But it has also been embraced by a criminal underworld. “AlphaBay was using the anonymity and the obfuscation measures available on the dark web to set up a forum that could be used for the buying and selling of everything from narcotics to stolen personal information to weapons and on and on,” he said. “Basically it’s a bazaar for illicit goods and services.”
Now a partner at the law firm Ballard Spahr, McAndrew said Cazes would likely have faced serious charges of trafficking and conspiracy and a lengthy prison sentence if convicted. “Based on the drug quantities that were being trafficked over the website, he could have faced at least 30 years, if not life,” he said.