The United States Government on Tuesday, March 26, indicted cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin and its two founders, Chun Gan and Ke Tang on criminal charges.
Chun Gan and Ke Tang are charged with failing to implement anti-money laundering protocols and allowing more than $5 billion worth of criminal funds to flow through its trading platform.
Chun Gan and Ke Tang are facing penalties for money transmission and Bank Secrecy Act violations, which specifically cited a “multibillion-dollar criminal conspiracy”.
This was contained in a press release from the United States Southern District of New York, naming them for their role in the alleged illegal activity.
The indictment was announced by US Attorney of the Southern District of New York, Damian Willians, and Homeland Security Investigations New York Field Office head, Darren McCormack.
The unsealed document stated that the exchange “flouted US anti-money laundering laws to grow KuCoin into one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges”.
Attorney Williams said the exchange “deliberately sought to conceal” the number of US users on the platform.
The document also alleged that KuCoin “took advantage of the sizeable US customer base to become one of the world’s largest exchanges, describing the development as a “criminal conspiracy”.
