Closing his part in the legal story that began in 2020, Delo was allowed to leave the country to travel to Hong Kong where he is a resident.
Benjamin Delo, the co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX has been sentenced to 30 months probation for violating the anti-money laundering law Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).
The sentence, handed down at a federal court in New York on June 15, follows his plea to be found guilty in charges of “wilfully failing to establish, implement and maintain an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program” in his role at BitMEX in February.
Prosecutors had claimed Delo should serve a year in prison or at least receive a two-year trial along with six months of home custody, as was given to former CEO Arthur Hayes in May.
For Dello, his short sentence closes the legal story that began in October 2020, where co-founders Hayes and Samuel Reed, along with Gregory (Greg) Dwyer, the first official employee of Bitmax, were accused of similar violations.
Judge John Koeltl called Delo’s breach “very serious” and said he knew BitMEX was breaking U.S. laws by not implementing an AML and know your customer (KYC) system.
Judge Koeltl, however, noted that the exchange has taken steps to rectify the issue and to be loyal.
Delo told the court, “When I look back, I see a fundamental failure to address a flaw in our systems,” adding he deeply regrets the arrangements that brought him in contact with the justice system and promised that it would be his last meeting with it.
Judge Koeltl ordered Delo, a citizen of the United Kingdom residing in Hong Kong, be allowed his probationary sentence in Hong Kong.
Judge Koeltl also considered that Dello had paid a 10 million fine since May to settle a court order in a civil case brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for violating the Commodity Exchange Act.
A spokesperson for Delo’s legal team said they were happy after the sentencing hearing that the court rejected “the government’s cynical attempt to exaggerate the seriousness of the Bank Secrecy Act charge in this case.”
Delo’s lawyers say he wants to leave the United States for Hong Kong soon.
Meanwhile, Greg Dwyer, a former Australian-born Bitmax business development chief who now lives in Bermuda, is in talks with the New York federal court to extend a deadline for filing pre-trial documentation according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
A letter from Dwyer’s lawyer to the court stated that “the parties continue to engage in discussions regarding a possible resolution to the matter.”
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