A BitMEX executive has pleaded guilty in a protracted lawsuit that has been leveled against the company for disregarding the Banking Secrecy Act. The executive in question, Gregory Dwyer, joins a relatively small list of already inducted personnel of the company in the case. The protracted case has been on for about two years, with the three co-founders already indicted after they pleaded guilty to the crime. Before now, Dwyer used to work as the executive in charge of business development at the company.
The BitMEX executive will pay $150,00 in fines
According to an update from WallStreetJournal, the said BitMEX executive was in court yesterday, where he admitted to having been part of the party that committed the criminal act. However, as part of pleading guilty, the executive will part with a fine of up to $150,000 as a sanction. In his review of the proceedings, the attorney in charge of the case mentioned that executives are also guilty when discharging their duties.
He noted that they would be held in the same regard as founders and other top executives when they commit crimes such as violating the Banking Secrecy Act. As mentioned earlier, the firm’s founding partners had already conceded to have willfully evaded the Bank Secrecy Act. Arthur Hayes, the firm’s CEO, and co-founder Delo made their plea on February 24. Meanwhile, another Top BitMEX executive pleaded guilty some weeks later.
BitMEX slammed with a money laundering suit
In their verdict hearing, Arthur Hayes was slammed with a two-year probation period, while Delo was lucky to have been slapped with a probation period spanning 30 months. However, Reed is looking at a possible jail term as he will face up to five years in prison. Also, Reed was slammed with a fine of about $10 million, roughly the same amount that the joint executives will have to pay for their part in the crime.
The lawsuit was filed in 2020 against all the co-founders and, by extension Dwyer. The prosecuting left levied crimes related to US traders withdrawing in mass from the platform as the firm continued to onboard many Americans against an earlier directive. Aside from that, the firm faced many issues related to AML and KYC. In the lawsuit, BitMEX was accused of providing an enabling environment for money laundering amidst other crimes on the platform.
