According to the United States Attorney's Office: Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin and its founders, Chun Gan and Ke Tang, have been indicted for allegedly operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and violating the Bank Secrecy Act. KuCoin is accused of failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) program, neglecting to verify customer identities, and not filing any suspicious activity reports as required by law.
As unveiled by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, KuCoin is alleged to have deliberately concealed a large number of U.S. users trading on the platform. It further took advantage of its extensive U.S. customer base to become a leading cryptocurrency exchange with a daily trading volume in billions of dollars.
The indictment alleges that KuCoin knowingly neglected its obligation to implement an adequate know-your-customer (KYC) program. It only adopted a KYC process for new customers in July 2023 after being notified of a federal criminal investigation into its activities.
According to the charges, KuCoin and its founders tried to mask the existence of U.S. customers to evade U.S. AML and KYC requirements. The indictment also alleges that KuCoin received over $5 billion and sent over $4 billion of suspicious and criminal funds since its founding in 2017.
If found guilty, both Gan and Tang face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each of the two counts charged. The three entities under KuCoin's umbrella could face up to 25 years in prison for the combined charges.
