A Bank of America insider is pleading guilty to boosting a global money laundering conspiracy that aided drug traffickers and other illegal businesses, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ says former Bank of America employee Rongjian Li was a member of a money laundering and drug trafficking outfit headed by Jin Hua Zhang.

According to prosecutors, Li used his position at the bank from 2021 through 2022 to help the criminal organization open several accounts.

Zhang’s organization then used the BofA accounts, some of which were registered using forged passports, to launder illicit funds.

“As part of his involvement, when the bank’s financial auditing systems flagged or froze accounts for suspicious activity, Li helped Zhang circumvent the bank’s anti-money laundering protocols and move illicit funds elsewhere.

In addition, Li was observed sitting next to Zhang at a dinner in New York, where Zhang discussed the different fee percentages he charged various criminal groups for drug trafficking and scams.”

Zhang’s organization is believed to have laundered millions of dollars in a span of months, according to the DOJ.

“The investigation revealed that, for a fee, Zhang laundered bulk cash for drug dealers and laundered profits from other illegal businesses. In less than a year, Zhang and his organization laundered at least $25 million worth of drug proceeds and funds from other illegal businesses through undercover agents.”

Li has pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces a monetary fine and a prison sentence.

“The charge of money laundering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000, or twice the amount involved, whichever is greater.”

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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A fellow at crypto think tank Coin Center filed suit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday, seeking a judge’s guarantee that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will not be able to prosecute his forthcoming crypto project for violating money transmitting laws in the future.

The lawsuit, filled by blockchain entrepreneur Michael Lewellen, claims that the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) criminal prosecution of software developers who publish noncustodial cryptocurrency software – including the ongoing prosecutions of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet co-founder Keonne Rodriguez – is unconstitutional, and violates the First and Fifth Amendments.

In addition to being unconstitutional, the suit claims, the DOJ’s prosecution of crypto developers “betray[s] its own representations to the public,” that, unless developers have “total independent control over the value” being moved, they are not acting as money transmitters.

Lewellen’s suit comes amidst growing concerns about government persecution of crypto privacy software developers, both in the U.S. and abroad. Tornado Cash’s Storm is facing up to 45 years in prison if convicted on all counts tied to his work with the crypto mixing service; Rodriguez faces a 25 year maximum sentence for creating Samourai Wallet. Both men have pleaded not guilty, and will go to trial this year.

In the absence of a clear regulatory and legal framework for cryptocurrencies, preemptive lawsuits like Lewellen’s are becoming increasingly common. Last year, two NFT artists filed suit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking a similar declaratory judgment protecting them from civil penalties from the SEC.

Read more: Does the SEC Really Have Jurisdiction Over NFT Art? Two Artists Sue SEC to Get an Answer

Through his suit, Lewellen is trying to avoid Rodrigez and Storm’s fate. His forthcoming project, Pharos, is essentially a crypto-based Kickstarter. Built on Ethereum, his crowdfunding platform will use a type of smart contracts he calls “assurance contracts” to ensure that donors will automatically get their money back if the project is not fully funded. The project will also have privacy features that prevents a project’s donors from being publicly identifiable.

As the creator and publisher of the Pharos software, Lewellen will only receive a predetermined fee from projects that are successful. According to his suit, “he will never have control over the cryptocurrency that goes through Pharos.”

Garland, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, will soon depart the DOJ. Incoming President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Garland as Attorney General, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, is currently undergoing nomination hearings. Garland’s successor will be automatically replaced as the named defendant of the suit upon his departure from the DOJ.

An ancient Bitcoin investor is going to spend the next two years in prison after underreporting his BTC gains, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

In a new press release, the DOJ says that Frank Richard Ahlgren III of Austin, Texas failed to accurately report the capital gains he earned after selling $3.7 million in Bitcoin.

He was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for filing false tax returns.

The DOJ says that taxpayers are required to report any gains or losses from the sale of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Says Stuart Goldberg, the Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ’s Tax Division,

“Frank Ahlgren III earned millions buying and selling Bitcoins. But instead of paying the taxes he knew were due, he lied to his accountant about the extent of a large portion of his gains, and sought to conceal another chunk of his profits through sophisticated techniques designed to obscure his transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain. That conduct today earned him a two-year sentence.”

Ahlgren made his first purchase of Bitcoin in 2011 and in 2015, he acquired about 1,366 BTC using top US crypto exchange Coinbase.

In October 2017, he sold about 640 BTC, each worth about $5,807 at the time, for a total of $3.7 million. He used most of the funds to buy a home in Park City, Utah.

But when he filed his 2017 tax return, he told his accountant he purchased the Bitcoin at a much higher price than he did, pretending his gains were less. He also sold BTC in 2018 and 2019 for over $650,000 but failed to report the sales.

According to the DOJ, Ahlgren’s false filings helped him avoid having to pay more than $1 million in taxes. In addition to his two-year prison term, Ahlgren is ordered to serve one year of supervised release and pay $1,095,031 in restitution to the United States.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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