The US authorities have accused the KuCoin crypto exchange and its founders of criminal conspiracy
The crypto exchange and its founders are accused of violating the law on banking secrecy, deliberate deception and participation in money laundering for $ 9 billion
The US government has accused the global cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin and its founders Chun Gang (Michael) and Ke Tang (Eric) of organizing a major criminal conspiracy.
According to the charges, KuCoin violated the Banking Secrecy Act, operated without the necessary licenses and did not comply with anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. Moreover, she did all this intentionally in order to attract American users and strengthen her position in the market.
Previously, similar accusations against KuCoin were made by regulators of the state of New York. Then the exchange managed to settle the case, agreeing to pay $22 million.
The authorities claim that the crypto exchange did not verify the identity of customers, did not comply with KYC ("know your customer") rules and did not report suspicious activity. Due to the lack of anti-money laundering protocols, suspicious transactions worth more than $9 billion passed through the crypto exchange, including money from darknet marketplaces and fraudulent schemes.
KuCoin allegedly served a huge customer base in the United States, but at the same time claimed that it did not have a single American client. Thus, the exchange used the potential of the American market, but did not comply with the laws.
"KuCoin allegedly took advantage of the unique financial opportunities of the United States without complying with its legal obligations," Prosecutor Damian Williams said. "This disregard for American laws aimed at combating financial crimes and corruption is at the heart of the charges brought against the exchange and its executives, who currently remain at large."
Source: https://ru.beincrypto.com/kucoin-multibillion-criminal-conspiracy/
