2 Florida men charged in illegal Bitcoin operation

[LakeBTC]

Two Florida men were arrested Tuesday in connection with an Internet Bitcoin exchange that involved more than $1 million.

Authorities arrested Anthony R. Murgio, 31, of Tampa and Yuri Lebedev, 37, of Jacksonville.  Two other men were arrested in Israel, other media outlets have reported.

Since at least 2013, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said Murgio, Lebedev and their co-conspirators operated the Bitcoin operation in violation of federal anti-money laundering laws.

Federal authorities said the suspects’ customers would exchange cash for Bitcoins and were charged a fee for the service.


[...]

http://www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/west-palm-beach/2-florida-men-charged-in-illegal-bitcoin-operation

[achow101]

What was that service? I didn't find it in the link that you posted.

And they just provided an exchange service, without the proper license.

“In doing so, they knowingly exchanged cash for people whom they believed may be engaging in criminal activity,” said a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.

So by running a Bitcoin exchange, they are exchanging cash for potential criminals. Does this logic apply to fiat? Sounds like they think that anything Bitcoin is criminal.

EDIT: found it was coin.mx. I found another, more explanatory link here: http://www.coindesk.com/coin-mx-arrested-operating-illegal-bitcoin-exchange/

[bryant.coleman]

Doesn't surprise me at all. In Florida, you need to apply for a money transmitters license, if you do currency trading worth more than $300. And this license is very expensive and notoriously hard to get. Earlier also, several people were arrested in Florida for trading with Bitcoins. Michell Abner Espinoza and Pascal Reid were arrested in 2014 (the latter was a Canadian citizen). Another trader (Robert Faiella) was handed a 4-year prison sentence this year. Florida seems to be the most coinophobic state in the US.  

[RawDog]

So by running a Bitcoin exchange, they are exchanging cash for potential criminals. Does this logic apply to fiat? Sounds like they think that anything Bitcoin is criminal.

Nope.  If these guys did the very same thing - but instead of bitcoin they were exchanging Euros with people they believed to be criminals - they'd be in the very same place.  This arrest has NOTHING to do with bitcoin at all. 

If you exchange money with someone you think is getting that money illegally, you are money laundering.  All this proves is the the Feds think bitcoin is money. 

Don't do illegal shit with Bitcoin.  That's the bottom line.

[Karartma1]

Those kinda news are coming a lot lately. (coin.mx first now that's second).

USA's attitude against bitcoin is getting worse lately. Why are those secret services hostile against bitcoin?

[subSTRATA]

Those kinda news are coming a lot lately. (coin.mx first now that's second).

USA's attitude against bitcoin is getting worse lately. Why are those secret services hostile against bitcoin?

because USA is the country where big banks and corporations rule, and bitcoin is a threat to the profits of those big banks. theyve got plenty of money to lobby against bitcoin, and the media doesnt exactly help because all it does is report on how bitcoin is used for criminal activities.

[uknohowwedo]

these guys related to the coin mx owners? 

[JPage]

these guys related to the coin mx owners? 

Yes. The very ones.

[gogxmagog]

Typical Florida BS. The cops down there are as backwards as the meth heads and criminals. and they love to bust bitcoiners.

What is wrong with the judges handing out the sentences? If anyone who does money exchange is basically engaging in criminal activity then every bank that takes cash deposits is too.

Are the laws around this so strict down there due to the proximity to Cuba? the drug trade etc?

[tlav]

However I assume it's perfectly fine to sell or buy a trezor with BTC loaded onto it as this is a good, not a money service.

[ashour]

Something I don't understand is, why don't you just go with the clean path ? Why not work with your local authorities ? They made over $1 million they could have paid their taxes and enjoy the rest. It was probably greed but now they probably regret it.

[bitbaby]

Something I don't understand is, why don't you just go with the clean path ? Why not work with your local authorities ? They made over $1 million they could have paid their taxes and enjoy the rest. It was probably greed but now they probably regret it.

True, if they had done their business with proper license and abiding by the rules where you're required to collect KYC forms of all the customers you're involved with and other such terms of a business involved with money exchange then this wouldn't have happened, they might have get away with doing this if they were working from another country where laws are not that strict but they should have known that they can't do it in US and expect nothing to happen.

[Za1n]

Something I don't understand is, why don't you just go with the clean path ? Why not work with your local authorities ? They made over $1 million they could have paid their taxes and enjoy the rest. It was probably greed but now they probably regret it.

True, if they had done their business with proper license and abiding by the rules where you're required to collect KYC forms of all the customers you're involved with and other such terms of a business involved with money exchange then this wouldn't have happened, they might have get away with doing this if they were working from another country where laws are not that strict but they should have known that they can't do it in US and expect nothing to happen.

Probably because they were dealing with criminals and knew full well they were laundering money. I don't think they would have made $1 mil by dealing with average Joe's looking to exchange a few BTC every few days. As someone else pointed out, this is more of a case of people doing something illegal more than it does with anyone having an agenda against BTC. They just happened to be using BTC for the illegal transactions, it could have been them exchanging Tide for $$ with the same results. Its just a little easier to handle BTC than truck-fulls of Tide laundry detergent.

[MrZillion]

Something I don't understand is, why don't you just go with the clean path ? Why not work with your local authorities ? They made over $1 million they could have paid their taxes and enjoy the rest. It was probably greed but now they probably regret it.

Some people are in it for a quick buck. Anyone who's serious and playing by the rules knows that you need to get straight with the paperwork before getting involved in money exchange/transfer/whatnot.

[kolloh]

Yikes, it is a dangerous game to try and operate something like that without the proper paper work. It looks like Florida doesn't mess around either.

[meono]

Florida generally is the worst state. So no suprise there.