The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has sentenced a Texas man for his role in a cryptocurrency money laundering conspiracy.
According to a press release, the convict named Deependra Bhusal, 46, who pleaded guilty last year to the charges filed against him, has been slammed with a 46-month jail term.
Bhusal’s Crime and Role
Bhusal was directly involved in a long-term money laundering scheme, which helped criminals launder their ill-gotten proceeds from multiple scam operations.
Per court documents, Bhusal was responsible for the opening of bank accounts and mailboxes that were used to transact unsuspecting victims’ funds. The press release notes that the transactions that took place on multiple occasions were conducted in amounts less than $10,000.
Bhusal and his gang kept the transactions below $10,000 in a bid to hide the nature and source of the funds from the authorities.
The criminal proceeds, according to court documents, are mostly converted to cryptocurrencies and transferred to foreign wallets owned and controlled by Bhusal’s co-conspirators based offshore.
“In August 2020, Bhusal and his co-conspirators traveled to Longview, Texas, where they attempted to exchange approximately $450,000 in criminal proceeds for Bitcoin,” the DoJ stated in the report.
Aside from Bitcoin, the press release did not state what other cryptocurrency was used by Bhusal and his co-conspirators mostly adopted to launder the criminal proceeds.
The DoJ noted that Bhusal personally laundered the sum of $1,437,358.99.
Other Co-Conspirators Face More Serious Sentences
Following thorough investigations, Bhusal’s co-conspirators such as Lois Boyd and Manik Mehtani were indicted by a grand jury and subsequently charged with violating the Travel Act and perpetrating money laundering.
Notably, if the co-conspirators are found guilty, they could be slammed with as much as 20 years of jail term.
Criminals Adopting Cryptocurrencies
It is no longer news that malefactors have been cashing out their illicit gains using cryptocurrencies because they believe the nascent asset class keeps them anonymous.
However, cryptocurrencies have in recent times proven to be not as anonymous as these bad actors may think following the clampdown on illicit crypto activities.
Crypto-related firms have worked closely with different government agencies to stop the continuous use of cryptocurrencies in illicit activities.
These collaborations have yielded positive results as authorities continue to seize illicit funds. A few days ago, Miami Feds announced it had confiscated 700 Bitcoin worth $34 million from a bad actor, in what is considered one of the largest seizures in America.
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