- The US Department of Justice has charged 53-year-old Maximiliano Pilipis with laundering 30 million dollars from the Silk Road darknet site
- He acted as an operator on the AurumXchange platform without a license.
- He is also accused of failing to pay taxes in 2019 and 2020 and other charges He now faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250K fine
The U.S. Department of Justice has accused 53-year-old Maximiliano Pilipis of laundering more than 30 million on the AurumXchange platform, processing more than 100,000 transactions, some of which were with Silk Road.
Specifically, he is accused of violating AML and CTF, and lack of KYC, as well as failing to pay taxes, converting the proceeds into assets such as US dollars and real estate.
More on Maximiliano Pilipis’ Allegations and Implications
So, at the time of Silk Road’s operation from 2009 to 2013, Maximiliano Pilipis facilitated transactions including 10,000 bitcoins worth over $1.2 million at that exchange rate.
However, the problem is that other transactions were made without a license, also failing to implement KYC and violating anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) regulations. This violates federal registration and reporting requirements for crypto exchanges, bringing them under the jurisdiction of federal law.
After AurumXchange was shut down, Maximiliano Pilipis split and redirected Bitcoin and other assets, in an attempt to salvage funds and cover his tracks. He also invested some of the funds in real estate in Arcadia and Noblesville, Indiana.
However, was found guilty by a jury on five counts of money laundering and two counts of willful failure to file tax returns and could now face up to 10 years in prison with a $250K fine. The final decision rests with the federal district court judge.
Conclusion
So, we can see how decentralized technology has allowed its benefits to be exploited for not the most honest and transparent purposes for quite some time.
However, the legislation has achieved its goal and we can now see it in action. Let’s look forward to the final decision, stay tuned.
