The US government has accused virtual currency exchange KuCoin and its two founders of violating anti-money laundering laws.
KuCoin founders Chun Gan and Ke Tang were each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the US Bank Secrecy Act and one count of conspiracy to operate an unauthorized money transfer business.
Neither man has been arrested, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“As today's indictment alleges, KuCoin and its founders intentionally sought to conceal the fact that a significant number of U.S. users were trading on KuCoin's platform,” said U.S. Attorney Damian.・Mr. Williams said in a statement.
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The Department of Justice claimed that by circumventing AML policies, KuCoin was able to transfer more than $4 billion in “suspicious criminal funds” and received $5 billion from operations “in the shadows of financial markets.” .
The Department of Justice said KuCoin, Gan, and Tang “affirmatively attempted to conceal the existence of KuCoin's U.S. customers in order to make it appear as if KuCoin was exempt from U.S. AML and KYC.” said. [know-your-customer] requirements. “
Customers in the United States were allegedly “actively prevented” from identifying themselves when opening accounts.
“In fact, until at least July 2023, KuCoin did not require its customers to provide identifying information. KuCoin's belated adoption of a KYC program for new customers comes as KuCoin faces a federal criminal investigation into its activities. It was not until July 2023, after receiving the notification,” the Justice Department said.
Last December, KuCoin settled with the New York State Attorney General for $22 million and announced it would cease operations in New York after being accused of not properly registering with the state. Of his payments, $16.7 million went toward refunding customers in New York.
Tuesday's lawsuit against KuCoin marks the first time the Justice Department has targeted a cryptocurrency exchange since announcing a multibillion-dollar settlement with Binance late last year.
As part of the settlement, former CEO Changpeng Zhao has resigned and a verdict is expected to be handed down next month. Binance was also accused of AML violations.
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