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Bitcoin Exchange CEO Charlie Shrem Arrested On Money Laundering Charge

Posted by samzenpus on from the paying-the-price dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Charlie Shrem, the chief executive officer of bitcoin exchange BitInstant, has been arrested and charged with money laundering. 'In the federal criminal complaint, the Southern District of New York charges Shrem, the 24-year-old CEO of BitInstant, with three counts, including one count operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count willful failure to file suspicious activity report. Robert Faiella, a Silk Road user who operated under the name “BTCKing,” was charged with one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and one count money laundering conspiracy.'"

5 of 330 comments (clear)

  1. HSBC by The+Atog+Lord · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm sure that the HSBC executives will also be arrested for their money laundering soon. Any time now.

    1. Re:HSBC by lgw · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You were sarcastic, but that is the whole freaking point of the rule of law: a list of rules such that, if you follow those rules, you won't be arrested. It makes for a far better society than one where you can be arrested whenever you annoy someone important, regardless of the rules.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    2. Re:HSBC by viperidaenz · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You are under arrest on suspicion of treason!
      What did I do that amounts to treason?
      What ever the king decides!

    3. Re:HSBC by pla · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Sorry, matter of national security. No, you can't see the evidence against you. No, we don't have to physically present you to the court to stand trial".

      And if you disagree with that... Better stay out of sight of the sky 24/7 or we might spot you "associating" with a terrorist leader and you know how that collateral drone damage works on you and your whole village... Er, neighborhood.

    4. Re:HSBC by Dahamma · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Stop trying to pretend this is a used car deal ("don't worry about the total, it's just $179 a month!"), let's just put the actual numbers out there - they were fined $1.9B for laundering $680B. The government isn't punishing them by "taking their future profits", it's giving them a massive break by forcing them to give up a small fraction of the profits they already made on illegal activities.

      If you were fined 5 weeks of income (and no jail time) after having made a shit-ton of money in the last 4 years doing something illegal, it wouldn't sting at all. In fact, you'd almost be motivated to try it again...