PANews reported on November 26 that Alan Joseph, a man from Lancaster, Massachusetts, was found guilty by a jury on November 22, 2024 for illegal Bitcoin transactions and money laundering. Joseph was charged with one count of operating an illegal money transmission business and three counts of money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman has set the sentencing date for February 24, 2025.
According to court documents, between August 2020 and February 2021, Joseph, 36, participated in at least four financial transactions to convert cash from the sale of what he believed to be counterfeit goods, including counterfeit Gucci products, into Bitcoin. One of the transactions occurred on October 28, 2020, when Joseph converted approximately $25,000 in cash into Bitcoin for the undercover agent. During this process, the undercover agent told Joseph that the funds came from "rich housewives" who purchased "fake goods."
It is noteworthy that Joseph never registered his money transmission business with the Treasury Department as required by federal laws and regulations, nor did he ask the undercover agent to show his identification during the meeting. According to relevant laws, money laundering is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine; illegal operation of a money transmission business is punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
