Texas man was sentenced to prison for laundering $1,4 million in crypto

The defendant pleaded guilty a year ago. He received a 46-month prison sentence in April 2022

07.04.2022 - 15:55

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What’s new? A Texas resident, Deependra Bhusal, was sentenced to prison for his involvement in a laundering conspiracy of more than $1,4 million using cryptocurrencies. He pleaded guilty on April 30, 2021, and was sentenced by US District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle to 46 months in federal prison on April 6, 2022. According to a press release issued by the Department of Justice (DoJ), Bhusal opened bank accounts which were then used to transfer funds stolen from victims of the scams.

The DoJ’s press release

How did the events develop? Bhusal did not act alone, he had accomplices. They exchanged funds obtained by criminal means for digital assets and then sent them to cryptocurrency wallets. Bhusal regularly split transactions under $10 000 to evade reporting requirements and to avoid attracting the attention of law enforcement agencies. On March 10, 2022, Lois Boyd and Manik Mehtani were named in the indictment as Bhusal’s accomplices. If found guilty, they both face up to 20 years in prison.

What had happened before? In March, the District Court of Michigan sentenced Christopher Boden, the former owner of the exchange The Geek Group, to 30 months in prison and a $75 000 fine for laundering money through an illegal business. Boden and two of his associates bought cryptocurrency from licensed exchanges, laundered it, and then resold it to their customers, who included drug dealers.

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