PANews reported on October 29 that according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Department of Justice has accused Maximiliano Pilipis, the operator of the cryptocurrency exchange AurumXchange, of suspected money laundering, claiming that he had processed $30 million in transactions for the dark web market "Silk Road".
Pilipis operated his exchange without a license between 2009 and 2013 (the same year the FBI shut down Silk Road), and Pilipis collected tens of millions of dollars in fees, including 10,000 bitcoins, by facilitating these transactions. Authorities also allege that Pilipis ignored federal registration and reporting requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges by failing to register with the U.S. Treasury and submit reports on the exchange's activities to the federal government, and that he also failed to implement know-your-customer rules, violating anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations. After AurumXchange closed, authorities said Pilipis dispersed and moved the bitcoin and other assets he earned from operating the exchange to "launder and conceal criminal proceeds." He is accused of converting cryptocurrencies into U.S. dollars, which he then used to invest in real estate in Arcadia and Noblesville, Indiana.
