The DOJ obtained the search warrantrelated to the investigation of the criminal cryptocurrency exchange known as BTC-e. BTC-e was charged in 2017 for an alleged four billion dollars worth of money laundering and other crimes. Its operator was extradited from Greece to the U.S. in August to face a 21-count indictment.
U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds of the Northern District of California said, "The warrant underlying this agreement was sought in connection with a significant criminal investigation.”
The warrant was served under the Stored Communications Act, which requires providers like Google to turn over "complete and prompt" responses to legal inquiries. The warrant was determined to have probable cause and had been signed by a judge.
Google allegedly failed to provide requested data stored outside of the U.S., halting execution of the search warrant. The DOJ alleges that Google also took steps to prevent the data from being repatriated.
The government litigated with Google for two years about the issue, culminating in Congress clarifying that the Stored Communications Act does in fact relate to data stored overseas. In the intervening time, the DOJ alleges that the data targeted by the search warrant had been lost by Google.
