Skip to main content

Bitcoin Trader Faces Five Years in US Jail for Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business

Bitcoin Trader Faces Five Years in U.S. Jail for Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business

Bitcoin trader Jacob Burrell-Campos pleaded guilty this week in a U.S. federal court to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. The 21-year-old San Diego native is now awaiting sentencing and faces a maximum of five years in jail.

Also Read: How to Easily Give BCH as Gifts in Halloween Trick-or-Treat Packages

‘Serious Threat’ to US Banking System

Bitcoin Trader Faces Five Years in U.S. Jail for Unlicensed Money Transmitting BusinessBurrell was arrested in August while trying to cross the border from Mexico. He was apprehended for trading crypto to fiat with over 1,000 people in the U.S. since January 2015, without any anti-money laundering safeguards in place. According to his plea bargain agreement, Burrell now admits to operating an unregistered exchange and has agreed to hand over more than $800,000 to the government.

“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,” said U.S. attorney Adam Braverman. “The Department of Justice (DOJ) will continue to investigate and prosecute all individuals and businesses that seek to evade the licensing and anti-money laundering requirements under federal law.”

How It All Went Down

Bitcoin Trader Faces Five Years in U.S. Jail for Unlicensed Money Transmitting BusinessAccording to the DOJ, Burrell advertised his services on Localbitcoins and privately offered to sell bitcoin to people with no questions asked, in exchange for a 5 percent markup over the going rate. He initially purchased the cryptocurrencies he sold from Coinbase, but his account was closed due to the large number of suspicious transactions he had conducted. Undeterred, he turned to Bitfinex in March 2015 and bought about $3.3 million worth of bitcoin from the exchange over a period of just over two years.

As part of the plea deal, Burrell also admitted he had exchanged his dollars, which he kept in Mexico, with Joseph Castillo, a San Diego-based precious metals dealer. This amounted to importing more than $1 million in fiat on almost a daily basis between late 2016 and early 2018, according to the DOJ. He admitted this was intentionally done in multiple transactions, each with an amount slightly below the minimum $10,000 reporting requirement.

Does Burrell really pose a serious threat to the integrity of the U.S. banking system? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Satoshi’s Pulse, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com.

The post Bitcoin Trader Faces Five Years in US Jail for Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business appeared first on Bitcoin News.



from Bitcoin News https://ift.tt/2zgABK4
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mt Gox Creditors Updated, Trustee Says Rehabilitation Custodian Is ‘Currently Preparing to Make Repayments’

On August 31, 2022, the Mt Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi explained in a recent letter that the rehabilitation custodian is “currently preparing to make repayments” to Mt Gox creditors. Trustee Updates Mt Gox Creditors — Repayment Date and Exchange Still Unknown Last week speculation and rumors concerning the release of 140K bitcoin ( BTC ) from Mt Gox littered social media platforms and headlines. Bitcoin.com News covered the situation six days ago as a number of people and Mt Gox creditors called the rumors “ fake news .” During that same period of time, a bitcoin whale transferred 10,000 BTC to unknown wallets, and a 2018 annotation , heuristics, and clustering methods show the funds likely originated from the June 2011 Mt Gox hacks. Following the mysterious whale transfer, last Wednesday, Mt Gox published an official update from the court trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi that explains the court is “currently preparing to make repayments” to creditors. Mt Gox creditors have been wait...
Post a Comment
Read more

Economists Discuss Russia, China Potentially Developing Gold-Backed Currency That Could Undermine US Dollar

Economists have weighed in on reports that China and Russia may be developing a new gold-backed currency that could undermine the U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s primary reserve currency. Russia and China May Be Developing Gold-Backed Currency Several experts have shared their views on Russia and China potentially creating a new gold-baked currency, Fox Business reported Saturday, emphasizing that China has been buying up huge quantities of gold while Russia was forced off the U.S. dollar due to sanctions imposed on the country following its invasion of Ukraine. The news outlet noted that some experts have cautioned that these moves, along with the closer relationship that has developed between Moscow and Beijing, point to the likelihood of China attempting to launch a gold-backed currency. However, neither Russia nor China has officially confirmed plans for such a currency. Craig Singleton, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former U.S. diplomat,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fidelity Discusses Bitcoin as Portfolio Insurance — Could Soon Stand in ‘Stark Contrast’ to Path Fiat Currencies Take

Fidelity Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, says that bitcoin could be considered portfolio insurance. The firm notes that the cryptocurrency “may soon stand in stark contrast to the path that the rest of the world and fiat currencies may take — namely the path of increased supply, additional currency creation, and central bank balance sheet expansion.” Fidelity Says Bitcoin Could Be Portfolio Insurance Fidelity Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, recently published a research study titled “The Rising Dollar and Bitcoin.” The research outlines “how bitcoin could be considered portfolio insurance” as the rising dollar impacts global currency markets. “The strengthening U.S. dollar is wreaking havoc among other countries and may put pressure on the Federal Reserve to soon reverse its tightening monetary actions, something that has precedent based on 1985’s Plaza Accord,” Fidelity explained. In addition, “more monetary debasement may be needed to ...
Post a Comment
Read more