The U.S. Department of Justice has filed charges against the crypto exchange KuCoin and its two founders for operating an unlicensed money transmission business and violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
In a statement dated March 26, the U.S. Department of Justice stated that KuCoin founders Chun Gan and Ke Tang intentionally failed to maintain an anti-money laundering program at the exchange, leading to the platform being used for money laundering and terrorist financing.
– KuCoin and its founders intentionally sought to conceal the fact that a significant number of U.S. users trade on the KuCoin platform – said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
KuCoin allegedly leveraged its substantial customer base in the U.S. to become one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, with billions of dollars in daily trading and trillions of dollars in annual trading volume, according to the DOJ.
– By failing to implement even basic anti-money laundering policies, the defendants allowed KuCoin to operate in the shadows of financial markets and to serve as a haven for illegal money laundering – added Williams.
