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Maksik

Max could see what was coming. With an FBI agent at the helm, DarkMarket was going to put a lot of carders in prison. But like Cassandra from Greek mythology, he was cursed to know the future and have nobody believe him.

Between the USA Today article and his failed attempt to expose Master Splyntr, Max could feel the heat coming at him. In November, he declared Iceman’s retirement and made a show of handing control of the site to Th3C0rrupted0ne. He secluded himself while things cooled down and three weeks later took back the board under another handle. Iceman was dead; long live "Aphex."

Max was getting tired of the tight quarters at the Post Street Towers, so Chris brought Nancy, one of his cashers, up to San Francisco to rent Max a one-bedroom at Archstone’s towering Fox Plaza corporate apartment complex in the financial district. She posed as a sales representative at Capital Solutions, a corporate front Aragon used to launder some of his income. Tea, back from her trip to Mongolia, was conscripted to sit in the apartment and accept delivery of a bed, paid for with her legitimate American Express card. Chris reimbursed her afterward.

By January 2007, Max was back in business at his new safe house, with a stew of Wi-Fi brewing outside. Fox Plaza was a giant step up in luxury