Coin.mx Operators Arrested For Violating Anti Money Laundering Laws

Anthony Murgio and Yuri Lebedev operators of the Bitcoin/Fiat exchange Coin.mx were arrested by the FBI at their Florida homes last week and charges in the Southern District of New York by Preet Bharara's office were unsealed against them this week. The Feds accuse Coin.mx of trading roughly 1.8 million dollars worth of Bitcoin and Fiat using the pretext of a memorabilia collector's club to conceal their actual activities from their banks and later acquiring control of a small credit union for greater autonomy.

In their press release (archived) the FBI accuses Murgio and Ledebev of knowingly having "exchanged cash for people whom they believed may be engaging in criminal activity" merely by the virtue of their having exchanged Bitcoins and Fiat while charging a fee for the service. This is exactly what United States Government blessed Fiat/Bitcoin interface CoinBase does as a side business, except Coin.mx did not make their primary business collecting information for United States "Law Enforcement" ventures. They each face counts of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business with a potential 5 years in prison, while Murgio additionally faces a charge of money laundering for a potential 20 years in prison and a charge of failing to file a suspicious activity report for another potential 5 years in prison.

6 thoughts on “Coin.mx Operators Arrested For Violating Anti Money Laundering Laws

  1. Demonstration of how USG retards the actual adoption of Bitcoin.

  2. The bank was hope-fcu.com.

    A federally chartered credit union with zero full-time employees, WTF.

    gbaWTFnga!

    • > zero full-time employees

      … and only $200k in assets. Jeebus. You can buy a bank for less than most houses cost.

      bangalangagangawanga

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