At the exit from the sex club, they killed the criminal blogger Martin Kok. MPC, one of its customers, has proven to be far from an ordinary handset manufacturer.
Once Martin Kok was already on the verge of death. A former forty-nine-year-old Dutch prisoner who became a successful criminal blogger left the hotel in Amsterdam after a late breakfast in December 2016. A man in a hood ran up to him, pointed a pistol at his head and prepared to shoot at point blank range.
However, the weapon jammed, or the killer lost his resolve. Recording from surveillance cameras showed that the man ran across the street, almost knocking down two cyclists, and then disappeared into the city. Kok moved on.
Kok had many enemies, on his site "Butterfly Crime" he went through each one: from biker gangs to Moroccan drug lords. Kok had previously been a killer, convicted of two murders , but having tied with a criminal life, he focused on the description of the criminal underground, which ran into him. Someone planted a bomb equivalent to the power of forty grenades under his car, according to a video shot by the Dutch police.
After leaving the hotel, Kok met with his partner Christopher Hughes, better known for his strong accent, nicknamed "Scotty". Hughes worked for MPC, a manufacturer of special encryption enabled phones. MPC focuses on people concerned about privacy, using even monochrome images of Edward Snowden in advertising. The same company supported financially the Butterfly Crime website, placing ads on the website and on social networks with offers of hats and other souvenirs with the MPC logo. It was easy money for Coca.
The MPC phone provides several levels of encryption in a secure private network.
one of the advertising posts on Twitter
Hughes and Kok spent the evening at the Boccacio sex club on the outskirts of Amsterdam. After Kok, dressed in a down jacket, got into a Volkswagen Polo, and at that moment a man in a hood jumped out from the dense thickets surrounding the parking lot. Shot through a car window, he killed Kok. As it turned out, MPC was far from an ordinary phone manufacturer.
Underground market
Around the world: in the Dutch clubs, which were frequented by Kok, in the Australian party of bikers, in Mexican drug traffickers, there is an underground trade in custom-made phones. These devices typically use software to send encrypted messages and messages that use their own server infrastructure to route connections.
Sometimes on such devices the microphone, camera and GPS are disabled. Some have a dual-boot mode: during normal power-up, the usual menu is displayed without confidential information, but if you keep certain buttons pressed while turning on the phone, a secret file system is activated containing encrypted user text messages and other information.
With such settings, the usual methods of intercepting messages by law enforcement agencies do not work. The police, having filed a lawsuit against the company, still will not receive a list of calls and message contents: texts, as a rule, are available in decrypted form only on users' devices.
There are several so-called "encrypted telephone" companies. Many of them work and trade with criminals. Kok, the murdered blogger, wrote about this in 2015: [ ] , , - . , , .
[ ] , , - . , , .
Do you know anything else about MPC or the encrypted phone market? We want to hear it from you. Use a non-working (in the sense, not at the workplace) telephone or computer to contact Joseph Cox on the Signal +44 20 8133 5190 secure messenger, in Wickr - josephcox, OTR chat at ifcox@jabber.ccc.de or write to joseph. cox@vice.com
The British hired killer, who was convicted of using geolocation data from his fitness device, used an encryption phone made by Encrochat . Police found an encrypted BlackBerry while investigating a large-scale criminal operation with marijuana in New York. According to a complaint against Vincent Ramos , the company's founder, Phantom Secure sold the devices to members of the infamous drug cartel Sinaloa. The source also added that Phantom Secure devices were sold in Mexico, Cuba and Venezuela, as well as biker gang Hells Angels.
It is worth noting that in the case against Phantom Secure, prosecutors claimed that the company was not involved in a crime, just as Apple or Google would not have been involved if the criminals used their devices. But specifically, this device was specially created for criminal activity. In May, Ramos was sentenced to nine years in prison because he pleaded guilty to organizing a criminal event directly contributing to drug trafficking through the sale of telephones. (Numerous informants, including a family member who wanted to remain anonymous, as well as Ramos's lawyer, said that initially, before he entered the criminal market, he created a company with a completely legal purpose.)
In MPC, the process of setting up devices was relatively simple: they took Android devices, such as Google Nexus 5 or 5X, and then, according to social media records and information from an informant who knew the details of the process, added their own security features and an operating system. Then MPC created client accounts for messengers, added a SIM card only for data transfer (for which MPC paid about £ 20 per month), and then sold the phone to a client for £ 1,200. A six-month extension cost £ 700, the informant added. Also, according to him, MPC sold only about 5,000 phones, but this still indicates the company's profit of about 6 million pounds. Three whistleblowers reported that MPC used source code from an Android fork called CopperHeadOS for security for some time.
On its website, the company advertised laptops, tablets, and GPS-oriented security tracking devices.
The MPC ad, which was published on Twitter. Screenshot.
One day in March 2016, I received an incoming private message from an MPC representative: , ! , , , [] ? -, ?
, ! , , , [] ? -, ?
An MPC representative was ready to provide the device for verification, and also asked if I had provided similar services to other companies in the industry. I refused the money, but replied that if they want me to evaluate their product, then let them send more detailed information.
A later message from them: , , . , , .
, , . , , .
The MPC phone was not sent to me, but for another year they continued from time to time to remind myself. At some point, their representative accidentally complained about the alleged informant, saying that he was trying to infiltrate companies involved in the production of encrypted telephones, as well as to get in touch with MPC: ; , - , , , .
; , - , , , .
Not often does a PR man contact you, warning about an obvious spy who is trying to infiltrate the company, especially in an industry that adheres to the aesthetics of a cloak and dagger. The logical question arises: who is behind the MPC?
In 2018, a mysterious informant contacted me using an encrypted messenger. We chatted a bit, after which he went straight to the point and sent me links to media reports about gangs selling cocaine with a turnover of several million dollars: for , - , MPC
There was no article directly mentioning the MPC, but a story was given of how two large drug and arms dealers from Glasgow, while continuing to manage their affairs, found refuge in Portugal, where they escaped from a flaming criminal war.
Now criminals are called simply “Brothers”
Quote from a report based in part on information from the Scottish news site "The daily Record"
Also, no article mentioned their names. My informant said their names are James and Barry Gillespie.
In February, police confirmed that an informant had told the truth. Police issued European warrants for the detention of Hughes, an MPC employee who was with Kok at the time of the murder of the latter, and four others. The list included James and Barry Gillespie, two fugitive alleged thieves in law.
The Brothers have full control of the MPC, according to two informants. However, the relationship between MPC and the Brothers along with their gang has not been previously reported. The operation to detain the Brothers is spread all over the world: 200 employees from Colombia, the FBI and other departments are trying to find them, regular meetings are held between the Scottish police, the FBI and the UBN.
, "" .
- said a person familiar with the company.
Vice.com received company documents and talked with whistleblowers (some of whom collaborated with MPC) in the encrypted phone industry to learn how the Brothers gained a substantial share of the criminal market through threats, intimidation, and violence. Vice.com, for security reasons, retains the anonymity of some sources. A law enforcement officer investigating the Brothers case commented: MPC.
Photo of the murdered criminal blogger Martin Kok, dressed in an MPC logo T-shirt, posted on Twitter. Screenshot.
Escalade
Dutch investigators believe Coca’s assassination was linked to the so-called Escalade group (as Scottish law enforcement authorities dubbed the Brothers crime organization . One Scottish government document describes Escalade as ,
.
The group sold large quantities of cocaine and heroin from South America to Europe. ,
, said Lord Justice Boyd , who sentenced two members of the group to seven years in prison in April for promoting the spread of weapons and drugs.
Several members of the gang tortured the debtor: they chained him, broke his arm, shot him and poured bleach into his wounds. The gang accountant lied under oath in an attempt to protect one of the tormentors. Another gang member is wanted for assaulting a former football coach who injured him in the stomach and face.
""
, ”said one whistleblower familiar with MPC. However, while some members of the Escalade were arrested and imprisoned, the Brothers and other gang members are still wanted.
Weapons seized by police during Operation Escalade
The fact that Escalade has created a high-tech anti-surveillance system puts it above the rest of the criminal gangs. The gang members held semi-automatic weapons in hidden compartments with hydraulic drive in specially equipped vehicles. Running away from the police, with the help of special equipment , they jammed the signals of mobile phones coming from their cars. The group even had its own technical specialist .
The “brothers” not only used fashionable gadgets, they created the technological infrastructure that underlies their criminal activities: MPC encrypted phones.
, ,
, is a comment by a law enforcement officer investigating the Escalade case.
Initially, the Brothers were customers of the encrypted phone industry, buying specialized BlackBerry devices from Ennetcom , according to an informant. Dutch police have reported Ennetcom's relationship with Danny Manupass with murders, armed robberies and drug trafficking.
The Brothers, not wanting to trust others with their safety, decided to create their own devices. They hired developers to create their own operating system. Vice.com received confirmation from three informants about the name of one of the developers, but he did not answer numerous questions.
Then, the Brothers, according to two informants, began distributing telephones to groups and people working with them to import drugs.
The “brothers” didn’t just use phones for safe communication when they went to business. They also organized the sale of phones to organized gangs, which became an independent commercial event in the encrypted phone industry.
,
, - one of Vice.com informants
Business expansion is associated with a foreign presence. His man sent Vice.com a photo of a business card of one of the MPC employees, which shows the office address in the center of Dubai, as well as phone numbers belonging to the UAE. Another informant said that MPC will regularly create new one-day companies. Vice.com found several MPC-related companies in the British Companies House database, some of which were only slightly different from the main company, although they were registered at the same address. Other related companies were registered in Amsterdam.
Vice.com identified the MPC employee with these database entries, domain information, and business card information. Two whistleblowers confirmed his role in the company: both said that he served as the “deputy chairman” for the Brothers. He asked Vice.com [] MPC?
when Vice.com asked him to comment on the situation by e-mail. He also did not answer other questions either by e-mail or in instant messengers. Vice.com does not name this person, since he was not mentioned in the media so that he would not be identified and would not try to take revenge.
To fix on the market phones with encryption is not enough just to make a device and sell it. The Brothers and their accomplices chose intimidation tactics without disdaining violence.
Two witnesses described how gang members attacked one person: they cut his face with a knife, while one witness said that the victim was a reseller. Another whistleblower who met with the MPC said he was threatened with killing by the vice chairman. According to Vice.com, the police filed a life-threatening statement.
In another case, the Brothers intervened themselves by directly calling the seller with threats. In the style of “good cop - bad cop” one of the brothers shouted at the seller, saying, “Wali from Glasgow, if you want to live,” while the second, according to the witness, took a more balanced, diplomatic approach.
Hydraulically driven system used by Escalade.
In June 2017, pressure on the MPC intensified.
, , , ,
, an MPC representative wrote to me in June 2017. - ,
.
Around this time, a man in the hood killed Kok near an Amsterdam sex club. A few months later, prosecutors in a Glasgow court outlined some of the serious crimes of the Escalade group, including torture and murder, after police arrested several members of the organization.
In early 2018, Dutch police arrested two people suspected of involvement in the murder of Kok, but Ridan Tagi, the leader of the Moroccan gang, allegedly associated with the murder, fled . The informant said that Kok angered the Moroccan mafia (about which, in general, he wrote on the blog). "Brothers" with accomplices are wanted.
MPC is now supposedly closed. The site is down, the Twitter account is inactive. Two whistleblowers said the Brothers closed the company after starting an investigation into their grouping. However, these thieves in law still communicate with accomplices and family using encrypted phones.
So far, the "Brothers" are still at large, and the Scottish police said that she did not know the whereabouts of the criminals. Daily Record reports that the couple may be in South America. The Scottish Organized Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit (OCCTU) has contacted the UBN for assistance seeking assistance .
A UBN representative wrote in an e-mail: , MPC - , ,
. The FBI also declined to comment. The representative of Europol wrote in an e-mail: , .
Kok, for his part, did not seem to know that, working with MPC, he fell into a trap.
, [...] MPC
, ”he wrote a few weeks before his death on Twitter, smiling and holding a mug with the MPC logo.