Bitmex Head Of BD Pleads Guilty In U.S. Court

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams divulged in a press release on Monday, that Gregory Dwyer, one of the top employees at crypto derivative exchange Bitmex pleaded guilty to violating The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl.

Dwyer aided and abetted money laundering at BitMex

On October 1, 2020 The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed an action against Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange or “BitMEX,” and their three individual founders, Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed for unlawful trade with the platform from the U.S.

More recently, one of Bitmex’s first employees, Gregory Dwyer who served as its Head of Business Development, and who is being tried alongside the founders has now pleaded guilty to “violating the Bank Secrecy Act by willfully failing to establish, implement, and maintain an anti-money laundering (“AML”) program at BitMEX, and aiding and abetting the same.”

With this plea, this Office has now obtained criminal convictions against all three founders, as well as a high-ranking employee at BitMEX, for willful violations of anti-money laundering laws. Today’s plea reflects that employees with management authority at cryptocurrency exchanges, no less than the founders of such exchanges, cannot willfully disregard their obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act”, noted U.S. Attorney Damian Williams

Implication of the guilty plea

According to the press release, Dwyer pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Bank Secrecy Act, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. However, under the terms of his plea agreement, he has agreed to separately pay a $150,000 criminal fine representing pecuniary gain derived from the crime.

BitMEX is an online cryptocurrency derivatives exchange that served thousands of customers in the U.S. during the relevant time period, from at least September 2015, until the Indictment in October 2020. BitMEX also made a multi-million dollar settlement deal with CFTC back in 2021.

Abigal .V. is a cryptocurrency writer with over 4-years of writing experience. She focuses on news writing, and is skilled in sourcing hot topics. She’s a fan of cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

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