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IPFS News Link • Bitcoin

25-Year-Old Bitcoin Seller Faces Life Sentence for Unlicensed Exchange

• https://www.coindesk.com by Wolfie Zhao

Kunal Kalra, also known as "Kumar," "shecklemayne" and "coinman," was indicted on Friday for allegedly trading cash and crypto for individuals including drug dealers, partially via his bitcoin ATM kiosk.

An announcement from the U.S. Justice Department last Friday said Kalra, who is expected to make his first court appearance next month, has agreed to plead guilty to the charges.

The release alleges Kalra ran an unlicensed crypto exchange business from May 2015 through October 2017. He admitted in his plea deal for having exchanged bitcoin for cash from criminals including drug dealers who obtained the cryptocurrency from selling narcotics on the darknet.

The justice department went on to say that without implementing an anti-money laundering program, Kalra facilitated such type of transactions with a commission while knowing the proceeds came from drug trafficking.


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