Post by anenro on Jun 26, 2020 17:43:47 GMT 4
DOJ Indicts Founder of Anti-Money Laundering Bitcoin Project for Money Laundering
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted the founder of “AML Bitcoin” on money laundering and wire fraud charges. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also filed charges, alleging the AML Bitcoin team violated federal securities laws.
According to a court filing dated June 22, Texas resident Rowland Marcus Andrade, the founder of the NAC Foundation, allegedly raised funds by conducting an initial coin offering for tokens representing AML Bitcoin, telling investors that the tokens would ultimately be converted into actual AML Bitcoin (which isn’t actual bitcoin). The SEC and DOJ also charged longtime DC lobbyist Jack Abramoff on conspiracy, lobbying disclosure and deceptive practices counts, alleging he helped mislead investors in the project.
Andrade told CoinDesk late on Thursday he was not guilty of the charges, claiming the allegations were “retaliation” for his opposition to a previous case.
According to Bloomberg, Abramoff will plead guilty and pay more than $50,000 in disgorgement and interest.
“In [its] White Paper, the NAC Foundation claimed AML Bitcoin cryptocurrency would include features that would allow the cryptocurrency to comply with anti-money laundering (also referred to as ‘AML’) and know-your-customer (‘KYC’) regulations and laws by using ‘biometric technologies’ among other methods to confirming the identities of participants in transactions using AML Bitcoin,” the DOJ filing said.
According to a 2018 press release, NAC Foundation claimed AML Bitcoin was “the world’s only patent-pending digital currency with anti-money laundering, know-your-customer, anti-terrorism and theft-resistant properties.”
The DOJ filing was first shared by Seamus Hughes, George Washington University deputy director, Program on Extremism.
Andrade tried to raise up to $100 million during the ICO, which occurred in late 2017 and early 2018, the filing claimed. According to the SEC complaint, Andrade raised about $5.6 million from 2,400 investors.
According to the DOJ filing, Andrade and unnamed colleagues “made public statements and statements to potential purchasers” that “misrepresented the state of the development” of the project., created a fake “rejection campaign,” made statements indicating the NAC Foundation was close to working with government agencies and “misappropriated money obtained through the sale of AML Bitcoin.”
The fake rejection campaign centered around the National Football League, the DOJ filing said.
“Andrade, NAC Foundation and his associates claimed that the advertisement would have aired during the Super Bowl if the television network airing the Super Bowl and the National Football League had not rejected the advertisement as being too controversial,” the filing alleged. “In fact, the NAC Foundation did not have the funds to purchase the advertising time, and the advertisement was never reviewed or rejected by the network or the NFL.”
According to the DOJ, Andrade also claimed to have substantive meetings with the government of Panama and an elected official in California. The filing alleged the Panama claims were “overstated,” and while “Andrade was present at a roundtable discussion and had his photograph taken with the [California] official,” AML Bitcoin “was not discussed.”
Close to $1 million was spent on a new home and real estate, the DOJ filing alleged.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted the founder of “AML Bitcoin” on money laundering and wire fraud charges. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also filed charges, alleging the AML Bitcoin team violated federal securities laws.
According to a court filing dated June 22, Texas resident Rowland Marcus Andrade, the founder of the NAC Foundation, allegedly raised funds by conducting an initial coin offering for tokens representing AML Bitcoin, telling investors that the tokens would ultimately be converted into actual AML Bitcoin (which isn’t actual bitcoin). The SEC and DOJ also charged longtime DC lobbyist Jack Abramoff on conspiracy, lobbying disclosure and deceptive practices counts, alleging he helped mislead investors in the project.
Andrade told CoinDesk late on Thursday he was not guilty of the charges, claiming the allegations were “retaliation” for his opposition to a previous case.
According to Bloomberg, Abramoff will plead guilty and pay more than $50,000 in disgorgement and interest.
“In [its] White Paper, the NAC Foundation claimed AML Bitcoin cryptocurrency would include features that would allow the cryptocurrency to comply with anti-money laundering (also referred to as ‘AML’) and know-your-customer (‘KYC’) regulations and laws by using ‘biometric technologies’ among other methods to confirming the identities of participants in transactions using AML Bitcoin,” the DOJ filing said.
According to a 2018 press release, NAC Foundation claimed AML Bitcoin was “the world’s only patent-pending digital currency with anti-money laundering, know-your-customer, anti-terrorism and theft-resistant properties.”
The DOJ filing was first shared by Seamus Hughes, George Washington University deputy director, Program on Extremism.
Andrade tried to raise up to $100 million during the ICO, which occurred in late 2017 and early 2018, the filing claimed. According to the SEC complaint, Andrade raised about $5.6 million from 2,400 investors.
According to the DOJ filing, Andrade and unnamed colleagues “made public statements and statements to potential purchasers” that “misrepresented the state of the development” of the project., created a fake “rejection campaign,” made statements indicating the NAC Foundation was close to working with government agencies and “misappropriated money obtained through the sale of AML Bitcoin.”
The fake rejection campaign centered around the National Football League, the DOJ filing said.
“Andrade, NAC Foundation and his associates claimed that the advertisement would have aired during the Super Bowl if the television network airing the Super Bowl and the National Football League had not rejected the advertisement as being too controversial,” the filing alleged. “In fact, the NAC Foundation did not have the funds to purchase the advertising time, and the advertisement was never reviewed or rejected by the network or the NFL.”
According to the DOJ, Andrade also claimed to have substantive meetings with the government of Panama and an elected official in California. The filing alleged the Panama claims were “overstated,” and while “Andrade was present at a roundtable discussion and had his photograph taken with the [California] official,” AML Bitcoin “was not discussed.”
Close to $1 million was spent on a new home and real estate, the DOJ filing alleged.