The former football player and the alleged operator of Crypto Capital, Reginald Fowler has pleaded guilty to fraud over his involvement in opening and operating bank accounts of cryptocurrency companies.
Consequently, he will face a maximum of 90 years in prison for bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy.
While working for Crypto Capital, Fowler allegedly assisted exchanges in obtaining banking services that would otherwise have been denied by other financial institutions. But by doing so, he also enabled them to bypass money laundering regulations.
Fowler was accused of concealing the true purpose of bank accounts and was initially arrested in April 2019. He then pleaded not guilty but later changed it to one guilty plea of operating an unlicensed money transmitter.
He withdrew his offer after being faced with charges and having to repay around $400 million. As a result, Federal authorities hit him with additional charges. In July 2021, the parties were not involved in plea negotiations, but a February 2021 trial date was set. That trial date was subsequently changed to May 16, 2022.
According to Fowler’s attorney, he would be willing to skip the trial and enter a plea. Another such case was seen last month when the Department of Justice from the Southern District of New York found the third founder of BitMEX guilty of breaching U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) rules.
According to the U.S. District Court, Samuel Reed “willfully failing to establish, implement and maintain” an anti-money laundering program at BitMEX.
