Since 2020, US Authorities have been filing several charges against BitMEX leadership and the platform itself.
Since the commencement of the charges, the three co-founders of the platform have all been sentenced, whether to a short-term house arrest and a $10 million fine in the case of Arthur Hayes, probation for Benjamin Delo, or an equal fine for Samuel Reed.
However, the cases against BitMEX personnel were not limited to the cofounders alone.
Yesterday, 39 years old Gregory Dwyer one of the first employees of BitMEX and the former head of business development, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the US Bank Secrecy Act to a US District Court presided over by Judge John G. Koeltl and will pay a fine of $150k as a part of the plea deal.
The $150k fine represents the pecuniary gain that the court believes was a result of the lax regulation of Mr. Dwyer.
The prosecution stated that Dwyer had intentionally failed to put stringent KYC and AML procedures in place to block US customers from accessing the platform and carrying out transactions.
Although the platform had been legally withdrawn from US markets in 2015, about a year after its foundation, the security measures Dwyer was said to be responsible for could be hacked by anyone with little technical knowledge. This allowed criminals to use the exchange for money laundering and other illicit activities.
Closing the case, Attorney Damian Williams commented, saying the court’s decision reaffirms that the US legal system does not and will not turn a blind eye to cryptocurrency exchanges and similar platforms within the industry and will pursue those responsible for legal violations beyond the level of upper management.
“With this plea, this Office has now obtained criminal convictions against all three founders, as well as a high-ranking employee at BitMEX, for willful violations of anti-money laundering laws.”
He further said, ” Today’s plea reflects that employees with management authority at cryptocurrency exchanges, no less than the founders of such exchanges, cannot willfully disregard their obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act.”
To this moment, Dwyer and his lawyer have not commented on the court’s decision.