Tag: laundering
India’s anti-money laundering agency searches edtech giant Byju’s offices
India’s crime-fighting agency searched three premises of edtech giant Byju’s and its founder Byju Raveendran, it said Saturday, and seized various “incriminating” documents and digital data. The Enforcement Directorate said it conducted the searches under the provisions of the nation’s anti-money laundering law FEMA, but declined to elaborate. The agency has conducted several similar probes […]
India’s anti-money laundering agency searches edtech giant Byju’s offices by Manish Singh originally published on TechCrunch
DOJ charges tiny crypto exchange Bitzlato with money laundering after teasing ‘major’ crypto announcement
After a hellish 2022, was crypto’s biggest reckoning about to hit in the first weeks of 2023? That’s what many thought after word quickly spread on Wednesday from the United States Department of Justice about an upcoming press conference announcing a “major international cryptocurrency action.”
Many assumed the announcement could very possibly be about the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance. And the news from the DOJ was indeed about a crypto exchange. And the name of that exchange? Bitzlato!
No, that’s not Binance…but they both start with “B.” Close enough, right? Not quite.
According to crypto analytics firm Arkham, Bitzlato-associated crypto wallets held no more than $6 million at its peak. So, what’s the deal with Bitzlato? How did this tiny crypto exchange end up on the U.S.’s radar?
The DOJ announced that the company was charged with money laundering for unlicensed money transmitting. According to the DOJ’s press released, Bitzlato was “conducting a money transmitting business that transported and transmitted illicit funds and that failed to meet U.S. regulatory safeguards, including anti-money laundering requirements.”
Prosecutors also announced that the Hong Kong-based crypto exchange’s founder, Russian national Anatoly Legkodymov, was arrested in Miami on Tuesday night. If convicted, Legkodymov faces a maximum of 5 years in prison for running an illegal money transmitting business.
And what likely caught the attention of U.S. officials was the crypto exchanges’ connections to dark web marketplace, Hydro Market. Users on the illicit marketplace, where they can buy drugs, stolen credit cards, and more, had exchanged more than $700 million in cryptocurrency with Bitzlato. The exchange also received “more than $15 million in ransomware proceeds” according to the DOJ.
Still, it was odd that the DOJ made a big deal about a rather inconsequential player in the crypto industry, even going so far as to categorize it as a “major international cryptocurrency action.”
On social media, crypto users were preparing for the worst before the news dropped. In a post-FTX collapse world, any major player seems vulnerable. In fact, just last month, a Reuters report shared that the DOJ had been investigating Binance for the past four years over potential money laundering and criminal sanctions violations. It seemed like something big was about to drop.
Instead the U.S. Dept. of Justice’s big news was about Bitzlato, a company many in the industry had never even heard of until today.
Elizabeth Warren Targets Crypto Money Laundering With New Bill – CNET
Senators Warren and Marshall’s New Bill Would Extend Money Laundering Laws to Crypto
There’s a new bill coming to Congress to deal with crypto, and this one’s not pulling many punches on the entire crypto ecosystem.
Bipartisan bill targets crypto money laundering in wake of FTX collapse
US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Roger Marshall have introduced a bipartisan bill designed to crack down on illegal uses of cryptocurrency. If passed, The Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act would extend aspects of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), a Nixon-era law Congress passed to combat money laundering, to cover crypto entities such as wallet providers and miners. Specifically, the new legislation would apply so-called “Know-Your-Customer” rules to those entities by directing the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to treat them as money service businesses. Another BSA expansion would require US citizens to file a report with the Internal Revenue Service whenever they engage in transactions that involve more than $10,000 in digital assets.
Additionally, the legislation would direct FinCEN to implement a rule the agency proposed at the end of 2020 that would require financial institutions to report transactions involving “unhosted” digital wallets. Per CoinDesk, those are wallets where the user has complete control over the contents — rather than an exchange or other third party. The legislation would also prohibit financial institutions from using or transacting with digital asset mixers, which are frequently used to obscure the origin of funds.
“Rogue nations, oligarchs, drug lords, and human traffickers are using digital assets to launder billions in stolen funds, evade sanctions, and finance terrorism,” said Senator Warren. “The crypto industry should follow common-sense rules like banks, brokers, and Western Union, and this legislation would ensure the same standards apply across similar financial transactions. The bipartisan bill will help close crypto money laundering loopholes and strengthen enforcement to better safeguard US national security.”
The push from Senators Warren and Marshall to crack down on crypto money laundering comes a day after the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced civil and criminal charges against FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Due to time constraints, the likelihood of the bill passing in the current lame-duck session is low. Warren and Marshall will almost certainly need to reintroduce it next year.
Authorities arrest Sam Bankman-Fried on FTX fraud and money laundering
Sam Bankman-Fried was scheduled to testify before Congress today, but he won’t make that appointment. Bahamian police arrested the former cryptocurrency magnate on Monday night at the request of US authorities. Bankman-Fried will remain in custody in the Bahamas as he awaits extradition to the United States.
Meet Slava Demchuk, CEO at Anti-Money Laundering Service: AMLBot
AMLBot is a service that allows you to check crypto wallets for “dirty” crypto. Crypto scams sweep the cyberspace. And…
The post Meet Slava Demchuk, CEO at Anti-Money Laundering Service: AMLBot appeared first on TechRound.
Indian authorities freeze more crypto funds over money laundering allegations
The Indian Directorate of Enforcement froze $46.4 million in the accounts of Vauld’s Indian branch until the exchange can account for criminal proceeds it transferred out of the country.
Tornado Cash Developer Arrested by FIOD for Money Laundering
Crypto mixer Tornado Cash is once again mentioned among money laundering allegations.