Archive

Not OK! Cryptocurrency Exchange Platform OKX Violated U.S. Anti-Money Laundering Laws and Will Pay $504M+ in Penalties

OKX, the largest international cryptocurrency exchange platform, hosts transactions totaling billions of dollars each day where users can place orders for spot trades in over three hundred cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, in addition to ordering derivative products tied to cryptocurrencies’ value. On February 24, the government announced that the Seychelles-based company, Aux Cayes Fintech Co. Ltd,...

Five of the Top AML Enforcement Actions by FinCEN

The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”) significantly strengthened whistleblower protections and incentives by establishing the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) Whistleblower Program. Before the AMLA, FinCEN could receive tips but lacked the authority to offer financial rewards. The AMLA changed this by allowing whistleblowers to receive rewards amounting to 10-30% of penalties collected...

FinCEN Announces $37M Civil Money Penalty Against Brink’s Global Services USA, Inc. for Violating the Bank Secrecy Act

On February 6, the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a $37,000,000 civil money penalty against Brink’s Global Services USA, Inc. (Brink’s) for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the main U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) law that protects the financial system from illegal behavior. Due to Brink’s failure, high-risk entities sent hundreds of...

Alleged AML failures at Visa and Mastercard: Card Companies Accused of Processing Payments for Child Sexual Abuse Content

On January 24, Reuters reported that a whistleblower filed a complaint with the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Unit, or FinCEN, alleging Visa and Mastercard had failed to stop payment networks from laundering money from child sexual abuse material and sex trafficking on the porn-centric creator platform, OnlyFans. According to Reuters and CBS, the whistleblower filed the complaint in...

LPL Financial Resolves SEC’s Charges for Anti-Money Laundering Violations

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) swooped in once again to investigate Anti-Money Laundering violations in companies that think they’re being slick. On January 17, the SEC announced several charges against the broker-dealer and investment adviser, LPL Financial LLC, for failures associated with its AML program. To resolve the SEC’s charges, LPL agreed to pay a civil penalty of $18 million and to...

More Cybercriminals Pay Steep Price for Running Crypto Scams and Laundering Cash

The government has already ramped up its efforts in 2025 to tackle cryptocurrency fraud and associated money laundering schemes with several recent enforcement actions. Cybercriminals exploit digital currency investment hopefuls. Their scams come in myriad forms such as ransomware attacks and virtual currency thefts, and the criminals use complex tactics to conceal their crimes to fuel their stolen profits. As...

A $1B+ Fraud Conspiracy: Yvette Wang Sentenced To 10 Years in Prison

Federal prosecutors continue the crack down on fraudsters that prey on innocent investors. On January 6, Daniel M. Gitner, Chief, Criminal Division, in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, announced that Yvette Wang a/k/a “Yanping” was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In addition to Wang’s prison...

Hold the Phone: Telemarketer Sent to Prison for $67M Health Care Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme

In December 2024, Jose Goyos, (38, from West Palm Beach, Florida) was sentenced to 15 years in prison for defrauding Medicare by falsely billing over $67 million for medically unnecessary genetic tests. Goyos and his co-conspirators worked at a telemarketing call center that roped thousands of unsuspecting Medicare beneficiaries and their doctors into their scheme. According to the government, Goyos managed the...

Funding Fail: Former TD Bank Employee Arrested for Laundering Columbian Drug Money

On December 10, 2024, former Florida TD Bank N.A. employee, Leonardo Ayala, 24, was arrested and charged for his role in laundering Columbian narcotics proceeds through TD Bank. Ayala worked at a TD Bank in Doral, Florida between February and November 2023. In June 2023, Ayala allegedly started exploiting his position to launder money. The scheme involved another TD Bank employee who allegedly opened accounts in...

Contraband, Canada, and Caught for an International Money Laundering Conspiracy: North Carolina Men Will Serve Prison Sentences

On December 4, 2024, Jeffrey Doctor (age 52, from Charlotte, North Carolina) and Samuel Baker (age 46, from Laurinburg, North Carolina) were sentenced in connection with a scheme to smuggle cut rag tobacco into Canada from the United States. Cut rag tobacco refers to tobacco plants that are chopped into thin strips and sourced to make smoking tobacco. Doctor was sentenced to 14 months in prison. Baker was sentenced to...