The United States Justice Department has revealed an indictment against cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin and its founders for conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and violating the Bank Secrecy Act. The Department of Justice accused KuCoin founders Chun Gan and Ke Tang of intentionally not implementing an Anti-Money Laundering program, which resulted in the exchange being used for money laundering and terrorist financing. The company itself was charged with operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and violating the BSA.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated that KuCoin and its founders intentionally concealed the fact that a significant number of U.S. users were trading on the platform. He further explained that KuCoin took advantage of its substantial U.S. customer base to become one of the largest cryptocurrency derivatives and spot exchanges globally, with billions of dollars in daily trades and trillions of dollars in annual trade volume.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also filed a civil enforcement case against KuCoin on the same day, accusing the exchange of multiple violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. The Department of Justice reported that KuCoin received over $5 billion and sent more than $4 billion of suspicious and criminal funds.
Chun Gan and Ke Tang played crucial roles in the establishment of KuCoin in 2017. The exchange’s operational headquarters were located in Seychelles, according to its website. At the time the article was published, the two Chinese founders remained at large.
U.S. authorities have been actively pursuing criminal charges against cryptocurrency exchanges and their executives operating within the country. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28 after being convicted on seven felony charges. Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is expected to be sentenced on April 30.
The United States enforcement agencies are intensifying their efforts to combat crypto-related crimes.