n The Mt. Gox saga continues, but there might be some light at the end of the tunnel for creditors, as the trustee is said to release findings within days.n
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AriseBank CEO Pleads Guilty to $4.2 Million Securities Fraud Involving ICO
Jared Rice, former AriseBank CEO, pleaded guilty to securities fraud and could face as much as 20 years in prison.
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Texas Crypto AriseBank CEO Pleads Guilty to Deceiving Investors in $4.2 Million Case
n After admitting to deceiving investors, the CEO of AriseBank will likely now face up to 20 years in prisonn
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20-Year Old Hacker Pleads Guilty to $5 Million Cryptocurrency Theft
n A 20-year-old hacker is set to serve 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to cryptocurrency theft valued at millionn
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Three Thai Siblings Accused of $24 Million Bitcoin Scam Plead Not Guilty
n Three Thai siblings accused of swindling million worth of Bitcoin from Finnish investor have recently pleaded not guilty in a Bangkok courtn
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LocalBitcoins Seller Pleads Guilty to Operating Unlicensed Business
A LocalBitcoins seller pleaded guilty of operating an illegal money transfer business in a Southern California federal court earlier today.
The defendant admitted to buying thousands of Bitcoin over a 16-month period and selling them through the popular peer-to-peer marketplace without the correct licence to do so.
Bitcoin Dealer Agrees to Forfeit Over 0,000
According to a news release from the Southern California Department of Justice, a San Diego man has pleaded guilty of operating an unlicensed money transmitting service today.
Jacob Burrell Campos admitted to illegally selling hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin without taking necessary precautions to abide by federal financial regulations.
Campos had used the platform LocalBitcoins to advertise his operation.
According to the news release, at first he was buying the Bitcoin from a “U.S.-based, regulated exchange” and then selling them privately at a 5% premium. He would accept a range of payments including: cash, ATM deposits, and MoneyGram transfers and often communicated trades via email or SMS.
Shortly after setting up shop his initial account was shut down following a “large number of suspicious transactions”. This prompted him to move to a Hong Kong-based exchange. The report indicates that this account was used to buy .29 million BTC over a series of several transactions.
During the period between January 2015 and April 2016 Burrell is thought to have served over 1,000 independent customers sourced from LocalBitcoins. However, federal law requires money transmitting businesses of this size be registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of Treasury and operate according to know-your-customer and anti-money laundering regulations. The San Diego man’s operation was compliant with neither of these regulations.
Finally, the 21-year-old also admitted to being involved in a dollar smuggling operation. The combined effort of this are thought to have resulted in over million crossing the Mexico – America border between late 2016 and early 2018. The group are thought to have been arranging the transfer of amounts just under the ,000 reporting requirement.
In the plea agreement, Campos states that he is willing to forfeit 3,357 to the U.S. government. He could also receive up to five years in jail for his crimes or a 0,000 fine. The 21-year-old will be sentenced on February 19.
U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman added:
“Unlicensed money transmitting businesses, especially those operating at or near the border, pose a serious threat to the integrity of the U.S. banking system, and provide an ‘open door’ for criminals to utilize such businesses to launder the proceeds of their illicit activities.”
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The post LocalBitcoins Seller Pleads Guilty to Operating Unlicensed Business appeared first on NewsBTC.
New York Man Pleads Guilty to $1.8 Million Ether Robbery
Louis Meza admitted to kidnapping and stealing .8 million in ether as part of a plea deal. He may be sentenced to 10 years in prison as a result.
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LA ‘Bitcoin Maven’ Trader Pleads Guilty of Running an Illegal Money Exchange
In what’s being reported as the first case of its kind in Southern California, a woman has pleased guilty to running an illegal money exchange using bitcoin. Theresa Tetley is thought to have made over 0,000 a year using a peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace.
“Bitcoin Maven” Sold Bitcoin Worth Millions of Dollars
According to NBC Los Angeles, Tetley was operating under the name ‘Bitcoin Maven’ on LocalBitcoins. The platform is a website that allows its users to sell Bitcoin for cash delivered in person or directly into their bank account. Tetley had plead guilty to operating a money transmission business at an earlier hearing. She allegedly traded Bitcoin for between million and .5 million in the three years she operated.
According to the prosecutor’s court papers, Tetley’s business ‘fueled a black-market financial system in the Central District of California that purposely and deliberately existed outside of the regulated bank industry.’
In terms of punishment for her crimes, the federal prosecutors are calling on U.S. District Judge Manuel Real to sentence Tetley to a 30-month prison sentence. Meanwhile, the defence lawyer is hoping to get this reduced to just 12 months.
In addition to the jail time, the government is requesting that 40 Bitcoin (worth 1,560 at the time of writing), 2,264 in cash, and 25 gold bars that were confiscated by the authorities at the end of March be forfeited.
LocalBitcoins allows its users to post adverts to either buy or sell Bitcoins using a variety of payment methods. Once a buyer and seller have agreed on a price, the cryptocurrency is locked into an escrow system until the seller acknowledges that the payment has been successfully made. They then release the digital currency to the buyer and it’s paid into the buyer’s wallet that’s hosted on the website. The buyer can then send the digital currency offsite to use it as they please.
The ‘pseudonymous’ nature of Bitcoin transactions has made their use popular with drug dealers on the dark web and their customers in the past. The U.S. Attorney’s Office added to Tetley’s crimes that a large portion of the proceeds of her business had previously been involved in drug trafficking.
In the past, LocalBitcoins has been a favourite of those buyers and sellers of the digital currency who want to do so without linking their bank account to their operations. Previously, we’ve reported on huge numbers of LocalBitcoins users in China and Venezuela. In these nations, the central governments have tried to limit the trading of Bitcoin. LocalBitcoins is favoured in these countries because Bitcoin can be traded using the website directly for cash in person.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The post LA ‘Bitcoin Maven’ Trader Pleads Guilty of Running an Illegal Money Exchange appeared first on NewsBTC.
Alleged ICO Fraudster Pleads Not Guilty in New York Court
A New York businessman charged with defrauding investors in two initial coin offerings ICOs plead not guilty in court last week.
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Alleged ICO Fraudster Pleads Not Guilty in New York Court
A New York businessman charged with defrauding investors in two initial coin offerings (ICOs) plead not guilty in court last week.
BitNewz.net