A US citizen from California has just pled guilty in federal court for operating an “unlicensed money business” selling Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) (BTC), called LocalBitcoin (available on Coinbase)s.com. The Department of Justice (DoJ) released a press release about the case yesterday, October 29th.

Unlicensed Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) (BTC) Sales

Jacob Burrell Campos has admitted to selling “hundreds of thousands” of dollars in Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) (BTC) to over 1,000 customers on LocalBitcoin (available on Coinbase)s.com. The transactions took place from January 2015 to April 2016. The DoJ has characterized his sales as an unregistered ‘Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) exchange.’

Burrell failed to register his business with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the US Department of Treasury and did not apply due diligence on the sources of his client’s funds, such as AML.

“Unlicensed money transmitting businesses, especially those operating at or near the border, pose a serious threat to the integrity of the US banking system, and provide an ‘open door’ for criminals to utilize such businesses to launder the proceeds of their illicit activities,” said US Attorney ADAm Braverman. “The Department of Justice will continue to investiGate and prosecute all individuals and businesses that seek to evade the licensing and anti-money laundering requirements under federal law.”

In addition to failing to comply with federal regulations, Burrell admitted that his account on an unnamed US crypto exchange had been closed due to suspicious transactions.