Cryptocurrency

Once a co-owner of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL, Reginald Fowler has been handed a six-year prison term for his involvement in operating as a &#34;shadow bank&#34; for the cryptocurrency sector. The charges against him include overseeing over $700 million in unregulated transactions over 10 months in 2018. The United States Attorney&#39;s Office in New York stated on June 5, announcing Fowler&#39;s sentence of 75 months for bank fraud and money laundering.This sentence ends a five-year legal case that originated when Fowler was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of engaging in shadow banking activities. Shadow banking refers to the illicit practices of non-bank entities that resemble traditional banking operations.Initially pleading not guilty to all charges in 2020, Fowler eventually changed his plea to guilty in April 2022. In a recent statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams emphasized how a series of lies allowed Fowler to deceive numerous banks, stating, &#34;Reginald Fowler circumvented federal laws by facilitating hundreds of millions of dollars in unregulated transactions on behalf of cryptocurrency exchanges as a shadow bank. He achieved this by providing false information to legitimate U.S. financial institutions, thereby exposing the American financial system to significant risks.&#34;Williams further revealed that Fowler had defrauded the Alliance of American Football (AAF), a former professional football league, by misrepresenting his net worth to obtain a substantial stake in the league. Williams expressed the firm commitment of his office to prosecuting individuals who engage in deceptive practices with banks to conduct their business.According to Williams, Fowler established Global Trading Solutions (GTS) in February 2018, collaborating with Crypto Capital and other cryptocurrency firms based in Israel. Through deception, Fowler, GTS, and the crypto firms avoided obtaining a license, enabling them to open accounts at various banks to process crypto transactions. Fowler clandestinely opened a dozen such accounts without disclosing GTS&#39;s association with the crypto firms, while the banks remained unaware of these activities.Among the implicated crypto firms were iFinex Inc, the parent company of Bitfinex, a popular cryptocurrency exchange, and Tether, a stablecoin issuer.Apart from the prison term, Fowler has been ordered to forfeit $740 million and pay the AAF over $53 million in restitution.By employing deceitful tactics and leveraging the vulnerability of the financial system, Fowler not only jeopardized the trust of legitimate institutions but also exploited the opportunities presented by the growing cryptocurrency industry. As his case reaches its conclusion, it serves as a stark reminder of the importance of maintaining transparency and adherence to regulations in the evolving landscape of digital finance.

Ex-NFL Team Owner Reggie Fowler Gets 6 Years for Crypto's Shadow Banking

ItsBitcoinWorld

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