Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have made the country’s largest-ever cryptocurrency bust, seizing more than $56 million CAD in digital assets tied to the exchange TradeOgre. It marks not only a record seizure but also the first time Canadian police have shut down a crypto trading platform running outside the law.
The investigation was handled by the RCMP’s Federal Policing division in Eastern Canada, led by the Money Laundering Investigative Team (MLIT). Police said the case began in June 2024 after Europol passed along intelligence that raised red flags about TradeOgre’s activities and possible violations of Canadian financial regulations.
Investigators discovered that TradeOgre was operating outside Canadian law. The exchange hadn’t registered with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) as required for money services businesses. On top of that, it skipped the basic obligation of verifying customer identities, a safeguard designed to stop money from being laundered through the system.
The RCMP said this lack of oversight turned TradeOgre into an easy tool for organized crime groups. Police believe most of the money that moved through the exchange came from criminal activity, with its anonymous accounts giving users a way to hide where the funds really came from.
“The main attraction of this type of platform is its ability to hide the source of funds,” investigators explained, describing the setup as a textbook tool for laundering illicit proceeds.
What comes next?
In addition to seizing the assets, investigators secured transaction data from the platform, which is now being analyzed. This information could lead to criminal charges against individuals or groups linked to the exchange.
“The transaction data obtained from the platform will be analyzed and charges may follow. The investigation is ongoing,” the RCMP confirmed in their statement.
This case not only underscores Canada’s growing efforts to clamp down on unregulated crypto exchanges but also highlights the importance of international cooperation in financial crime investigations. With TradeOgre dismantled, authorities say the operation sends a clear signal to platforms attempting to bypass regulatory oversight.
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