KuCoin Enters Guilty Plea With U.S. Government
KuCoin founders were also compelled to leave the cryptocurrency exchange after the company entered a guilty plea to run an unlicensed money-transmitting business and agreed to pay $300 million in a settlement.
The crypto exchange was charged with not registering with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. KuCoin stated that the company’s activities in other markets are unaffected and it has made great progress in fortifying its platform security and compliance framework.
According to the Department of Justice, on January 27, PEKEN Global Limited, doing business as KuCoin, pled guilty in a federal court in Manhattan as part of a settlement agreement. The plea also mandates that KuCoin leave the US market for two years in addition to a $112.9 million fine and a forfeiture of $184.5 million.
In a deferred prosecution agreement, the exchange’s founders, Eric Tang, and Michael Gan will also forfeit $2.7 million and “will no longer have any role in KuCoin’s management or operations.”.
KuCoin, Gan, and Tang were charged by prosecutors with lacking effective Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering programs. The Justice Department claimed that KuCoin did not ask users for identifying information until July last year.
KuCoin staff members repeatedly claimed on open social media platforms that KYC was not required on KuCoin, including in reaction to posts from clients who had claimed to be in the United States.
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