Crypto Capital defendant pleads guilty to fraud

Arizona resident Reginald Fowler pleaded guilty to providing shadow banking services through the Panamanian processing of Crypto Capital. The Block writes about it.

At the end of 2019, the man was going to partially confess to a number of charges. He later abandoned the plans due to a condition under which the authorities could recover $371 million from him.

During a remote hearing on April 25, 2022, Fowler pleaded guilty to all charges, including conspiracy and illegal transfers. The maximum sentence in his case is 90 years in prison.

The final verdict will be delivered on August 30.

Crypto Capital is a key player in the Bitfinex v. New York case. It was to this processing that the exchange transferred $850 million for storage. As a result, it lost access to funds, and the authorities accused the platform of trying to hide the loss and make up for the deficit with the funds of the Tether stablecoin issuer affiliated with it.

Together with Fowler, Israeli citizen Ravid Youzef and her brother Oz Youzef were charged with bank fraud. The latter was the founder of Crypto Capital, through which illegal transactions were carried out. Both defendants are still at large.

In early February 2021, Bitfinex repaid the loan to Tether. That same month, the companies entered into an agreement with the New York State Attorney General’s Office.

Under the terms of the settlement, Bitfinex and Tether agreed to pay $18.5 million to the state, make their reserves public, and stop serving local customers. However, the company did not acknowledge the fact of the offense.

Recall that in October 2020, Fowler announced his readiness to plead guilty .