Funds' transfer company Technocash voluntarily froze bank accounts connected to the internet currency Bitcoin in the recent past because of allegations of money laundering.As reported yesterday, US authorities are seeking to seize A$38 million from three accounts held in Australia by Westpac in Technocash's name.The Westpac accounts appear in a list of "forfeitable property" linked to seven men charged in connection with claims of money laundering relating to Costa Rican-based Liberty Reserve. The seven are facing charges.Mt.Gox, a Bitcoin exchange based in Japan, advised users in September 2011 that its "National Australia Bank account and the Bankwest account" were closed by Technocash at the banks' discretion. The Compliance Complete service of Thomson Reuters Accelus reported on the episode yesterday.Mt.Gox said in a circular to users at the time that "the account was closed as Technocash... [after] receiving an extremely high number of fraud complaints from Australian customers.""It appears that a number of criminal elements were using Technocash as a means of laundering funds obtained through credit card and identity theft through various Bitcoin exchanges and then converting any stolen funds into US dollars for withdrawal internationally."Technocash has since revived accounts for Mt.Gox users. The firm charges a fee of 3.95 per cent of the amount for deposits under A$99,950 and 1.25 per cent of any amount above this. These fees have been as high as five per cent in the past.According to its website, Technocash, which was established 13 years ago, specialises in helping to collect payments from entities in Australia and New Zealand, and passing them through to virtual currency exchanges such as Mt.Gox."Technocash offers clients the ability to hold real cash funds in their own account," it states. "A valuable feature is the ability to hold many different currencies in your account at one time." Compliance Complete reported that a United States secret service agent involved in the Liberty Reserve case has alleged that the founder of Liberty was using Technocash to receive funds from exchangers around the world. The agent wrote in the indictment: "From emails I have reviewed, I know that defendant Azzeddine El Amine is the Technocash accountholder for Swiftexchanger [a Liberty Reserve exchanger based in Costa Rica]. The emails showed that exchanges wishing to purchase Liberty reserve currency wire funds to Swiftexchanger. When Swiftexchanger receives funds in its Technocash account, an email alert is sent to El Amine, notifying him of the transfer." He alleged that, from June 2012 through to May 2013, exchangers doing business with Liberty Reserve sent a total of US$36.9 million to the three accounts held by Technocash at Westpac in Australia. Sources close to the investigation in Australia told Thomson Reuters that Technocash had been unwittingly swept up in the investigation and was unaware of the allegations against their client, Swiftexchanger, until their Westpac accounts were frozen. Technocash holds an Australian Financial Services Licence, as required under the Corporations Act 2001. It is also listed on the official Austrac register of remitters. In a statement issued through an external