Ramos Vincent (Vincent Ramos)

2018: Arrest for sale of smartphones to criminal groupings

In March, 2018 the founder and the CEO of the Canadian company Phantom Secure Vincent Ramos was arrested for the fact that his company sold smartphones to the criminal organizations.

Phantom Secure bought phones BlackBerry and Samsung, and then finished them, increasing security level. From devices cameras, microphones were removed, GPS- modules, the built-in browsers and messengers. Phantom Secure installed in tubes applications for exchange of the ciphered messages via VPN the servers located in Panama and Hong Kong. 

BlackBerry smartphone

It was supposed that such upgrade will make smartphones completely protected from cracking and a possibility of wiretap, including intelligence agencies. In case of hit of gadgets to the third parties (including police) without desire of the client in Phantom Secure all data which are stored in phones could erase far off.

Such smartphones were on sale at the prices from 2 to 3 thousand dollars. Before Vincent Ramos's detention the company managed to sell about 20 thousand copies worldwide.

According to the investigation, the most part of the implemented products was delivered to members of criminal groupings and drug cartels. The U.S. Department of Justice brought to Ramos and four partners charges of "conscious and deliberate collusion to the criminal organizations which provided technology tools for leaving from law enforcement bodies, to a prepyatstvovavaniya to justice at commission of international traffic of drugs", transfers CNBC TV channel.

Vincent Ramos was detained in Bellingham (State of Washington) on March 7, 2018. Law enforcement agencies in the USA, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Thailand were attracted to arrest. Four other defendants are wanted.

The communication network which Phantom Secure provided to the clients is disconnected. BlackBerry and Samsung, whose smartphones were modified by the company, any complaint is not made.^[1]

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