Firoz Patel, the founder of the crypto payments platform called Payza, has been sentenced to an additional three and a half years in US federal prison after attempting to conceal Bitcoin
According to a February 6 statement, Patel first tried depositing it into Binance
$6.45B
Patel was sentenced in 2020 after pleading guilty to running an unlicensed money-transmitting business and laundering money. Prosecutors said his platform processed transactions without proper authorization and was used by fraudulent operations, including Ponzi and pyramid schemes.
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As part of his sentencing, Patel was required to forfeit any assets gained through Payza, but he claimed to have only $30,000 in a retirement account.
While serving his initial sentence, Patel learned that authorities were investigating the hidden Bitcoin. As his release date approached, he allegedly hired someone to impersonate a lawyer, hoping to delay prosecutors long enough to leave the US and avoid further charges.
However, investigators uncovered the scheme, which led to a new indictment before his scheduled release.
Washington, DC, judge Dabney Friedrich ruled that Patel had obstructed an official proceeding by trying to move 450 BTC linked to his business, despite already serving time for financial crimes.
The latest ruling adds another 41 months to Patel’s sentence. He will also be under supervised release for three more years and must forfeit over $24 million, along with the 450 BTC currently frozen at Blockchain.com.
Meanwhile, a US court recently issued a final ruling against the founders of EmpiresX, an illegal crypto investment platform. What was the verdict? Read the full story.
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