BitMEX exchange co-founder Benjamin Delo has been sentenced to 30 months’ probation for flouting anti-money laundering rules.
Yesterday, after the ongoing legal saga that started in October 2020, a New York federal court sentenced Delo to probation for violating the anti-money laundering Banking Secrecy Act, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In February, Delo and former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes pleaded guilty to “wilfully failing to establish, implement and maintain an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program”.
In May, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission then issued Delo and Hayes (alongside co-founder Samuel Reed) a fine of $10m, of which Delo has only partly paid back.
The trio were charged with having failed to carry out know-your-customer (KYC) procedures for the company's US customer base.
BitMEX was serving as a de facto money laundering platform that serviced around $209m in unlawful transactions. By January 2021, it was reported that BitMEX had added KYC procedures.
Delo confessed he wished he had acted differently, telling US District Judge John Koeltl, who imposed the sentence: “It was a terrible decision”.
Delo will return to his home and wife in Hong Kong where he will serve his sentence.
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