- 46 Bitcoin ATMs have been charged for illegal business.
- In New York, a bitcoin ATM operator was charged with using the company to “market toward those involved in criminal behavior.”
- “Robert Taylor reportedly went to considerable measures to make his bitcoin kiosk business as secret as possible in order to recruit a clientele willing to pay top money for anonymity,” the prosecutor said.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. charged Robert Taylor on Wednesday for “operating an illegal bitcoin ATM company that he targeted towards individuals engaged in criminal activity.”
Converted more than $5.6 million cash into BTC
Taylor had bitcoin kiosks in at least 46 sites in New York City, the majority of which were laundromats, as well as in New Jersey and Miami.
According to the district attorney, the 35-year-old “converted more than $5.6 million of his customers’ cash into bitcoin while demanding a fee of between 10% and 20% between 2017 and 2018.”
“Multiple counts of operating an unregistered money-transfer business, criminal tax fraud in the third degree, and offering a fake document for filing in the first degree,” according to Taylor’s charges.
According to forensic analysis, more than $5.6 million in cash was deposited into Taylor’s bitcoin ATMs between September 2017 and November 2018.
More than $590,000 was paid in fees, with roughly $160,000 going into Taylor’s personal bank accounts.
Taylor, on the other hand, only reported a $3,000 profit in 2017 and a $140,000 loss in 2018.
It is not licensed by the US Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and In fact, he was denied a money transmission license and a virtual currency corporation license (Bitlicense) by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS).
ALSO READ: Fast-Moving FinTech Poses Challenge for Regulators – IMF
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/04/20/new-york-bitcoin-atm-operator-caught-for-running-illegal-business-attracting-criminals/