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The Department of Justice has charged a US citizen with evading crypto sanctions

According to a judicial opinion document issued on Friday by US Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui, the US Justice Department has filed its first criminal case against a US person who allegedly sought to circumvent American sanctions by utilizing cryptocurrencies. The case remains closed.

Judge Faruqui stated why he allowed the Department of Justice's criminal case against an American person suspected of sending more than $10 million in bitcoin to a crypto exchange in a nation that has been extensively sanctioned. Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimean, Donetsk, and Luhansk territories are now under international sanctions.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department has fined crypto exchange platforms for breaking sanctions regulations. The judge, however, explained:

"The Department of Justice can and will prosecute people and companies for failing to comply with the OFAC's regulations, including those relating to virtual currency," says the statement.

According to the DOJ, the defendant, a U.S. citizen, utilized an IP address in the United States "to conspire to run an online payments and remittances business" situated in a nation that has been fully sanctioned. The Department of Justice stated:

"The payments site offered its services as a way to get around US restrictions, including apparently untraceable virtual currency transfers."

The defendant also used a cryptocurrency exchange in the United States to acquire and sell bitcoin. The defendant then utilized this crypto exchange account to send over $10 million in BTC for the platform's users between the United States and sanctioned nations. According to the DOJ, the defendant plotted to defraud the United States by violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

"The question is no longer whether virtual money is here to stay," the judge added, "but rather whether fiat currency rules will keep pace with frictionless and transparent blockchain payments."

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