Ex-NFL team owner Reginald Fowler was sentenced to six years for running a crypto ‘shadow bank’ facilitating over $700 million in unregulated transactions in 2018.
Former Minnesota Vikings co-owner Reginald Fowler, 63, receives a 75-month sentence for bank fraud and money laundering, as announced by the US Attorney’s Office in New York on June 5th.
Reginald Fowler’s five-year case concludes with a guilty plea to shadow banking charges, following his initial not-guilty plea in 2020. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams highlights Fowler’s deceitful tactics in misleading multiple banks.
Reginald Fowler utilized Global Trading Solutions (GTS) to collaborate with Crypto Capital and Israeli crypto firms, facilitating his criminal activities.
Reginald Fowler, GTS, and the crypto firms evaded licensing requirements by deceiving banks and opening undisclosed accounts to process crypto transactions. Fowler operated a network of a dozen such accounts without bank awareness.
The case also implicated iFinex Inc, the parent company of Bitfinex and Tether, along with other convictions for bank fraud conspiracy, unlicensed money-transmitting business operation, conspiracy, and wire fraud.
Alongside the prison term, Reginald Fowler was mandated to forfeit $740 million and provide restitution of over $53 million to the AAF (Alliance of American Football).
This case involving Reginald Fowler highlights the seriousness of financial crimes in the crypto sector and emphasizes the need for stricter regulations and oversight to prevent such illicit activities.
