A Canadian man has been sentenced to 41 months in the federal prison for an attempt to launch 450 Bitcoin more than $ 43 million after 2020 for running a money capacity activities.
Firoz Patel, 50, from Montreal, argued guilty of obstacle to an official procedure after he was caught launching crypto proceeds instead of complying with a forfeiture ordered by the court, the US Department of Justice announced on Thursday.
Judge of the American court Dabney L. Friedrich pronounced the sentence, including three years of accompanied release, forfeit 450 bitcoin (plus any accrued interest) that is currently frozen in a crypto exchange in the UK and a conviction of $ 24 million .
Patel, who once had an online payment platform named Payza, was already convicted in 2020 for processing illegal transactions related to Ponzi schemes and money laundering.
As part of his 36 -month conviction, Patel had to reveal and vomit all assets that are bound by his crimes.
Instead, he misled the court and claimed that his finances were limited to $ 30,000 in pension savings, while in reality he was on a Bitcoin fortune.
Patel moved the money about crypto exchanges in an attempt to keep them out of the government’s reach.
First he sent the Bitcoin in Binance, but the platform marked and closed his account in April 2021, with reference to compliance with.
Patel then shifted the stock to an offshore exchange using an account in the name of his father and linked it to a Belize-based address used for Payza. That exchange also froze the money and recognized the transaction as suspicious.
Patel, who became increasingly desperate, contacted the stock exchange in June 2021 and insisted that he would not owe anything to the US government.
However, researchers had already taken steps to grab the assets, together with the authorities in the UK to ensure that the stock remained frozen.
Even behind bars, Patel tried to regain control of the frozen crypto.
When he approached his release date, he orchestrated a legal Charade – rearranging an employee to introduce himself as a lawyer and to enter into fraud negotiations with the office of the American lawyers.
The goal? Stole the case long enough to run free and to flee to Canada before they are confronted with new costs.
Authorities went through the deception, which led to the charge of Patel in May 2023.
He has remained in the federal detention since June 2021, with the US making his Bitcoin -Rijk permanent out of reach.
Patel’s case is just an example of how criminals continue to exploit digital assets to hide illegal wealth.
The Crypto industry stood for $ 3 billion in losses in 2024 as a result of hacks and scams, an increase of 15% compared to the previous year, such as per blockchain security company Peckshield’s report.
Only hacks were good for $ 2.15 billion, which marked an increase of 42% compared to 2023, while scams contributed to $ 834.5 million in losses.
Last week another Canadian national, 22 -year -old Andes Medjedovic was charged for alleged exploitation of vulnerabilities in two decentralized finance (Defi) protocols to steal $ 65 million from investors.
Published by Stacy Elliott.
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