The US Department of Justice filed a formal lawsuit against the founder of the Helix crypto-mixer for failure to pay a civil fine of $60 million.
In the lawsuit, the Department of Justice indicated that Larry Harmon did not pay a fine imposed on him by the US Department of the Treasury for negligence in implementing measures to prevent money laundering through the platform.
“Harmon actively assisted cybercriminals in circumventing the internal control policies and procedures of regulated US cryptocurrency exchanges. Through his services, Harmon promoted illegal activities on the Internet, hiding the nature, location and sources of income from the illegal activities of criminals on the Internet, ”the authors of the lawsuit insist.
In 2020, Harmon was fined $60 million by the Treasury Department through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) after he was charged with violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and money laundering.
A year later, the Justice Department reported that Larry Harmon had pleaded guilty to charges of laundering $300 million worth of bitcoin and had agreed to pay a fine to FinCEN. During the investigation, Harmon agreed to a voluntary restitution to the state of 4,400 BTC.
The prison sentence for this crime can be up to 20 years. However, given the cooperation with justice, the final sentencing of Harmon has been postponed for the time being.
Source: Bits
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