Arthur Hayes Sentenced to Two Years Probation, Six Months House Arrest
Arthur Hayes has been sentenced to two years of probation plus six months of home confinement for violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act.
Key Takeaways
- BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has been sentenced to two years’ probation and six months of home detention by a federal court in New York.
- Hayes pled guilty in February to violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act.
- According to Hayes’ plea deal the sentence could have carried up to 12 months in prison, with prosecutors seeking additional time last week.
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Hayes had pleaded guilty earlier this year.
Hayes Sentenced
A U.S. court in New York has sentenced BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes for violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act by failing to comply with anti-money laundering protocols.
Hayes, who pleaded guilty in February, will serve two years of probation and six months of home detention. Hayes’ co-founders, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed, who pled guilty alongside Hayes in February, are set to be sentenced in June.
The BitMEX executives were accused of offering trading services to U.S. and international customers without observing required anti-money laundering and Know-Your-Customer procedures. As such, they stood accused of facilitating money laundering.
The judge in the case, Judge John Koeltl, said during Hayes’ sentencing that his actions were not a matter of mere oversight, but rather that Hayes understood the implications of failing to comply with anti-money laundering procedures:
“He knew these procedures were required to avoid having his company used for money laundering and other illegal purposes… the crime was more than a simple regulatory oversight.”
Hayes’ attorneys asked for no jail time, while prosecutors in the case sought more than a year. Prosecutors in the case said that comprehensive compliance within the crypto would be unsuccessful if founders and executives “believe there are no meaningful repercussions for failing to comply with the law.”
BitMEX was initially accused of failing to implement anti-money-laundering (AML) programs last year. In August, its parent company was fined $100 million in penalties as part of a settlement with the CFTC and FinCEN. Hayes, Delo, and Reed have each personally been fined $10 million.
BitMEX continues to operate.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and several other cryptocurrencies.
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