The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently published four press releases related to crypto industry enforcement actions. In two instances, the press releases announced the sentencing of defendants. The first of these related to the sentencing of one defendant, Ilya Lichtenstein, to five years in prison "for his involvement in a money laundering conspiracy arising from the hack and theft of approximately 120,000 bitcoin" from a global cryptocurrency exchange in 2016. According to the press release, Lichtenstein's wife, Heather Morgan, is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18 for her role in the scheme.
The second press release announced that the operator of Bitcoin Fog, "the longest-running bitcoin money laundering service on the darknet," was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison. According to the press release, over the course of 2011 to 2021, "Bitcoin Fog gained notoriety as a go-to money laundering service for criminals seeking to hide their illicit proceeds from law enforcement and processed transactions involving over 1.2 million bitcoin, valued at approximately $400 million at the time the transactions occurred."
A third DOJ press release announced the conviction of a defendant on charges of "money laundering and operating an unlicensed, 'no questions asked' money transmitting business that converted more than $1 million in cash to the digital currency [b]itcoin, including on behalf of scammers and a drug dealer." According to the press release, the defendant concealed the true nature of his business from banks, cryptocurrency exchanges and state authorities by holding the business out to be a vending machine business.
A final DOJ press release announced that a defendant has pleaded guilty to charges involving "a scheme to launder millions of dollars in proceeds of cryptocurrency investment scams." According to the press release, as part of the scheme, the defendant would receive victim funds in financial accounts he controlled, convert the funds to USDT and then distribute the USDT to cryptocurrency wallets he controlled.
For more information, please refer to the following links:
- Bitcoin Fog Operator Sentenced for Money Laundering Conspiracy
- Danvers Man Convicted of Money Laundering and Operating Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business
- Foreign National Pleads Guilty to Laundering Millions in Proceeds from Cryptocurrency Investment Scams
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