Eun Young Choi stated that the Department of Justice (DoJ) is focusing on crypto exchanges that enable criminals to effortlessly profit from their unlawful activities and convert their ill-gotten gains into cash.
According to the Financial Times (FT), the leader of crypto enforcement at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has pledged to take strong action against illegal activities taking place on trading platforms.
Eun Young Choi, the director of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), mentioned that the DOJ is focusing on crypto exchanges that make it simple for criminals to make money from their illegal activities and convert it into cash. She emphasized that this effort is aimed at combating the notable increase in crypto-related crimes over the past four years.
Choi further explained that the department is concentrating on businesses that bypass rules meant to prevent money laundering or verify customer identities. They are specifically targeting companies that neglect comprehensive compliance measures and fail to adequately manage risks associated with their operations.
Choi expressed the hope that by targeting such platforms, they will have a broader impact and create a ripple effect in combating crypto-related crimes.
The NCET also intends to take stronger actions against investment scams, which Choi refers to as “pig butchering” schemes. These scams involve fraudsters developing relationships with victims over several months before carrying out their deceptive activities.
Just last month, the agency revealed that they successfully halted approximately $112 million from six of these scams. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), investment fraud amounted to around $3.31 billion in stolen funds in 2022, with over $2.5 billion of that total attributed to scams involving cryptocurrencies.
This information is for general knowledge only and should not be considered as advice for investing or making financial decisions.
