White-collar crime surrounding cryptocurrencies was rampant in the early days of the industry. Still, the law is continuing to crack down on those who took advantage of the lack of regulation available at the time.
What was touted as innovation turned out to be a scheme used to fund a person’s lavish lifestyle.
Justice Served
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California shared a press release confirming that Rowland Marcus Andrade, CEO and Founder of the now-defunct AML Bitcoin token, was guilty of wire fraud and money laundering.
The jury in the trial, which began earlier in March and lasted approximately five weeks, found the defendant responsible for a scheme that defrauded investors of millions in connection with the marketing and sale of the cryptocurrency.
According to documents and evidence presented to the court, Andrade misled the public with incorrect statements about AML Bitcoin, its development, use cases, release date, and more. There was also a claim that the Panama Canal Authority almost permitted the asset as payment for ships passing through the Canal, yet nothing like that was discussed.
Further proof was displayed in the ruling, which noted that the accused had manipulated people who trusted the project out of approximately $10 million. More than $2 million of the funds from the sale were spent on personal expenses, which included two properties in Texas and two luxury cars. The jury also found that funds were laundered through a series of bank accounts for further private spending.
“The defendant made one false claim after another about a sophisticated cryptocurrency offering to create the illusion of a legitimate business. He exploited numerous investors who put their trust in him, not knowing that their hard-earned money was funding his lavish lifestyle.
Today, Andrade learned the price of his greed,” said United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian. “This case emphasizes my Office’s ongoing commitment to prosecuting anyone who undermines the integrity of traditional financial or digital asset markets.”
Along with the prison term, Chief Judge Seeborg also sentenced Andrade to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a forfeiture equal to the sum of the funds that were obtained from the deceptive sale.
A hearing is scheduled for September 16th this year, which will be used to determine the total amount of forfeiture and restitution owed to the victims of the accused.
Quick Rundown Of How It Happened
The project originally surfaced around 2014, under the NAC Foundation (LLC), which Rowland Andrade owned. An ICO was launched at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, raising over $5 million.
The token was touted as groundbreaking at the time, allegedly offering built-in AML/KYC compliance, biometric ID verification, and anti-terrorism features.
An SEC and DOJ complaint was logged in 2020, showing that the product did not exist because there was no platform for it. The complaint also found that a previous token, AtenCoin, which was being worked on by Andrade’s team, had failed.
That same year, lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the CEO were indicted, with the former charged with conspiring to mislead investors. He was required to pay $50,000 in disgorgement and interest, having previously promoted the token.
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