The U.S. Department of Justice said Kujing, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, pleaded guilty on Monday, pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed currency transmission business and agreed to fines and forfeitures of more than $297 million (approximately Rs 25,700 crore).
Peken Global Ltd operates as Kucoin and pleaded guilty in Manhattan by U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Carter.
The request included a criminal fine of $112.9 million (about Rs 97.6 billion) and a confiscation of $184.5 million (about Rs 15.96 crore) and called on Kucoin to withdraw from the U.S. market for at least two years.
Two Kucoin founders – Chun Gan, known as Michael; Eric’s Ke Tang both agreed to sign a two-year extension of the prosecution agreement to confiscate $2.7 million (about 2.33 billion) rupees), and lost any role in the management and operations of Cucoin.
Prosecutors said Seychelles-based Kucoin has been used to facilitate billions of dollars in suspicious transactions and deliver potential criminal proceeds, including from the Darknet market and malware, ransomware and fraud.
This is due to Kucoin’s alleged failure to implement effective anti-money laundering and understanding its own client programs.
Prosecutors said Kucoin has not reported suspicious transactions nor has it been registered with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crime Enforcement Network or Fincen.
Court documents show that Kujing was founded in 2017 and has more than 30 million registered users in at least 207 countries and regions as of March 2024.
“This resolution represents a new chapter for Kucoin, which reaffirms our dedication to compliance, security and innovation,” said BC Wong, who was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Kucoin after serving as Chief Legal Officer last week, in a The statement said.
“We focus on strengthening our global compliance practices and exploring opportunities to re-enter the market with the necessary licensing,” Wong added.
GAN’s attorney Alexander Wilson said in a statement that the resolution reflected his client’s lack of intention to violate U.S. law or participate in money laundering, fraud and similar criminal activities.
Don’s attorney, David Meister, declined to comment.
In December 2023, Cuco was agreed to block New York users and paid $22 million (about Rs 190 crore) to resolve the state’s lawsuit, alleging that it had not registered.
According to data company CoinMarketCap, Kucoin is the eighth largest cryptocurrency spot exchange in the world, including traffic, liquidity and trading volume. Binance and Coinbase are higher-level exchanges.
©Tech Word News
(This story has not been edited by Tech Word News’s staff and is automatically generated from the joint feed.)
