New guilty plea in Bitmex crypto exchange laundering case

A first BitMEX employee pleaded guilty on Monday to violating US bank secrecy laws by failing to set up an anti-money laundering program, following guilty pleas by three co-founders of the cryptocurrency exchange to the same charges.

Gregory Dwyer, 39, of Australia and Bermuda, filed his petition before US District Judge John Koelt in Manhattan. He also agreed to pay a fine of $150,000.

Prosecutors said that from 2015 to 2020, Dwyer and BitMEX founders Benjamin Delo, Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reid failed to adopt anti-money laundering and “know your customer” programs, effectively turning the exchange into money with federal bank secrecy. violated the act. Laundering Platform.

Dwyer worked as Head of Business Development at BitMEX, which is short for Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange.

They could face up to five years in prison, although Dallow, Hayes and Reid were sentenced to probation.

Dwyer’s attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

BitMEX agreed last August to pay up to $100 million to settle civil fees imposed by two US financial regulators for failing to properly screen customers, and for trading cryptocurrencies without registering. Accepted customer money for