The press release mentioned in the techcrunch article tells us that the investigation leading to this seizure was started in 2020. I don't know what the reasons are for the prolonged delay, but in an industry where companies sometimes start, grow, and die over a span of weeks, the two-plus-years wait is pitiable.
I don't know if the delay was due to the 2020 presidential election, or the 2022 mid-term elections, or some other reason, but it's a sad excuse for justice if it takes that long. So prolonged a delay means that the criminals located at the other end of the malware's connections, at the Croatia-based "Mother Ship," were able to obtain not only the personal banking, medical, and social details of hundreds or thousands of victims - but also the login credentials for lots of small-to-medium firms where cloud-based accounting applications have been routine for years. Not only were individuals robbed for some or all of what they had, but many businesses undoubtedly found themselves with phantom employees whose names and social-security data existed only in the logs of Western Union wire transfers to far-away dens of untouchable theives whom are now both rich and gone.
The press release mentions the seized website by name, and if you choose to click the link, you'll see a banner notice that "This Website Has Been Seized," just beneath the seals of both the Department of Justice and the FBI. There is passing mention of other agencies and governments which took part in the investigation, but they're mentioned in an unorderd list, shown in much smaller type. The emblems and/or seals of other angencies and governments are placed at the bottom, in much smaller sizes than the DOJ/FBI plaques at the top, so it very clear that the FBI wants all the credit for this seizure.
Who, I wonder, will get the credit for turning the FBI into a competent law-enforcement organization, instead of a PR firm for the legacies of the hard-nosed G-men of the past? Purvis and his fellow agents deserve a lot of praise for their achievements - but this is the twenty-first century, not the twentieth, and it's long past time for the FBI to stop resting on its laurels.
Bill Horne