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**Hugh** · Yesterday, 18:00

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Originally Posted by Carth

I'd be careful with the 'money laundering' statement Hugh, unless you know something that should also be reported to the authorities and investigators

Why - Delo pled guilty to the offence, and then he was pardoned, not exonerated…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly79gpp22do

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In 2022, Delo was convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls at BitMex. He was sentenced to 30 months of probation and given a $10m (£7.3m) fine for violating the US Bank Secrecy Act, but was subsequently pardoned by President Donald Trump.

https://www.justice.gov/pardon/frequ...sked-questions

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A pardon is an expression of the President’s forgiveness and can be granted in recognition of the applicant’s acceptance of responsibility for the crime and established good conduct for a significant period of time after conviction or completion of sentence

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Please also be aware that if you were to be granted a presidential pardon, the pardoned offense would not be removed from your criminal record. Instead, both the federal conviction as well as the pardon would both appear on your record.

His company was fined another $100 million for money-laundering in January 2025…

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr...nk-secrecy-act

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Company Willfully Flouted U.S. Anti-Money Laundering Laws to Boost Revenue

Matthew Podolsky, Attorney for the United States, Acting under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515, announced that HDR GLOBAL TRADING LTD., a/k/a “BITMEX”, was sentenced today to a fine of $100 million for violating the Bank Secrecy Act by willfully failing to establish, implement, and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (“AML”) and know-your-customer (“KYC”) program.

Attorney for the United States Matthew Podolsky said: “Anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules protect Americans from fraud, combat money laundering, and prevent the financing of terrorist activity. It is critical that all financial institutions, including cryptocurrency exchanges, comply with these rules to protect our country’s economy and national security. Today’s sentence sends a clear message that companies that willfully violate these rules and refuse to implement AML/KYC programs will face consequences.”

According to the allegations in the Information and other filings and statements made in court:

Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed founded BITMEX in or about 2014, and Gregory Dwyer became BITMEX’s first employee in 2015 and later its Head of Business Development. BITMEX, which has long serviced and solicited business from U.S. traders and operated through U.S. offices, was required to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and to establish and maintain an adequate AML program. AML programs ensure that financial institutions, such as BITMEX, are not exploited for illicit purposes and serve to protect the integrity of the U.S. financial system and national security more broadly.

BITMEX and its executives knew that because BITMEX served U.S. customers, it was required to implement an AML program that included a KYC component but chose to flaunt those requirements, requiring only that customers provide an email address to use BITMEX’s services. Indeed, senior executives each knew that customers residing in the U.S. continued to access BITMEX’s trading platform through at least in or about 2018, and that BITMEX policies nominally in place to prevent such trading were toothless or easily overridden to serve BITMEX’s bottom line goal of obtaining revenue through the U.S. market without regard to U.S. criminal laws. Corporate executives took affirmative steps purportedly designed to exempt BITMEX from the application of U.S. laws like AML and KYC requirements, despite knowing of BITMEX’s obligation to implement such programs by operating in the U.S. As part of BITMEX’s willful evasion of U.S. AML laws, the company lied to a bank about the purpose and nature of a subsidiary to allow BITMEX to pump millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system.

Hayes, Delo, and Reed, BITMEX’s three founders and top executives, and Dwyer, another top executive, all previously entered guilty pleas for violating the Bank Secrecy Act and were sentenced in 2022. The corporation entered a guilty plea on July 10, 2024, and was sentenced today.

In addition to the fine, BITMEX was sentenced to two years’ probation.

Mr. Podolsky praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York Money Laundering Investigation Squad.

The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Illicit Finance & Money Laundering Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Greenwood and Thane Rehn are in charge of the prosecution.