21-year-old Bitcoin trader indicted for multiple illegal transfers and money laundering

Translator: Sally from the CoinPlayer

A 21-year-old Bitcoin trader from California has been indicted for multiple illegal money transfers and money laundering.

Jacob Burrell Campos was ordered held without bail at a hearing on Friday, the U.S. Attorney General for the Southern District of California announced.

According to the document released by prosecutors on August 8, the trader sold $750,000 worth of Bitcoin to 900 Americans through the Bitcoin trading service between January 2015 and April 2016, according to prosecutors.

The document said Burrell failed to register for a license involving large-value money transmission as required, violating anti-money laundering regulations, and he will face charges of money laundering and illegal remittances.

In addition, prosecutors said Burrell committed a total of 28 counts of international money laundering to fund his illegal Bitcoin transactions. It is alleged that from February 2015 to February 2016, Burrell used his U.S. bank account to conduct 30 transactions to purchase Bitcoin on the Bitfinex exchange, totaling $900,000.

The transactions were allegedly intended to avoid identity verification when transferring funds to accounts in the United States. Burrell’s account on the Coinbase exchange has now been closed.

Prosecutors said in a statement:

"Burrell engaged in significant violations of U.S. anti-money laundering laws by transferring nearly $1 million in unregulated cash into and out of the U.S. banking system."

The defendant also faces another charge of using international financial instrument transactions to evade reporting when he attempted to smuggle approximately $1 million from Mexico into the United States.

If Burrell is convicted of money laundering, the U.S. government plans to forfeit "any property, both real and personal, involved in the commission of such crimes, and any other property which may be traced to such crimes."