BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Buffalo Police detective was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury.
The charges faced by 34-year-old Terrance Michael Ciszek — also known as DrMonster — stem from alleged purchases made on an illicit online marketplace and making false statements to the FBI, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross. Ciszek faces up to 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Ciszek purchased nearly 200 stolen account credentials on the dark web marketplace. They also say he had a bitcoin wallet with stolen credit card data, leading the Buffalo Police Department to conduct an internal investigation. He was suspended with pay by the police department in early May of 2023.
These charges follow an FBI investigation that began in August of 2018.
Prosecutors, in a statement, said they began "investigating an illicit online marketplace known as Genesis Market, whose operators compile stolen data, such as computer and mobile device identifiers, email addresses, usernames, and passwords, from malware-infected computers around the globe, and package it for sale on the market. Purchases made through Genesis Market are conducted using virtual currency, such as bitcoin."
Out of that came charges against Ciszek, who prosecutors said purchased 11 packages on Genesis Market in 2020 between March 16 and July 29. That included 194 stolen account credentials.
Ciszek also had bitcoin wallet addresses associated with UniCC, which is considered a dark web carding website.
"Carding websites are illicit marketplaces and/or forums used to share stolen credit card data and discuss techniques for obtaining credit card data, validating it, and using it for criminal activity," Trini Ross' office said in a statement.
Ciszek is also alleged to have made false statements to the FBI on April 4, 2023, "claiming that he had not purchased stolen credentials from the internet, and further stating that his nephew may have been responsible for the online purchase of stolen credentials."