Bitcoin Exchange CEO Charlie Shrem Arrested On Money Laundering Charge

Posted by samzenpus on Monday January 27, 2014 @07:48AM 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.'"

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Re:I was wondering when that would happen by jratcliffe · 2014-01-27 08:01 · Score: 5, Interesting

If they were doing what they are alleged to have been doing using Yen, or Dollars, or Pounds, or whatever, it would still have been money laundering. Bitcoin doesn't change that.
Re:And so it begins... by tripleevenfall · 2014-01-27 08:29 · Score: 5, Interesting

since bitcoin isn't a currency so much as it is a ledger where everything is tracked and traceable, it does not seem like the ideal venue for illegal transactions. The "paper trail" is going to be out there.
One article I recently read described Bitcoins as "prosecution futures". I think they might have been right.