Lawyers of Alleged Money Launderers in Florida Want Charges Dropped, Say Bitcoin Isn't Money, As Defined By The IRS
Mitchell Adber Espinoza (left) and Pascal Reid (AP/Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Dept.) The lawyers of two men accused of laundering money and running an unregister money services business through the LocalBitcoins.com trading website are hoping to use recent I. R. S. tax guidance on bitcoin as a means to drop charges, according to Fox News. Michell Adber Espinoza and Pascal Reid were arrested in February of this year in a police sting that involved the Miami Beach Police Department and the United States Secret Service. The two were picked up when agents posed as criminals,....
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Lawyers representing two Florida men charged with bitcoin-related money laundering want to have the charges dropped on a curious technicality. Adber Espinoza and Pascal Reid were arrested in February following an undercover sting operation. Police made the arrests after undercover officers took to LocalBitcoins.com posing as credit card fraudsters. Officers were looking for someone to launder their cash and buy bitcoins to fund illegal activities, namely to buy stolen credit card data. Having allegedly agreed, Reid and Espinoza both stand accused of laundering money and running an....
A Florida judge has dismissed long-standing charges against Michel Espinoza, accused since 2014 of illegal money transmission and money laundering for selling bitcoin. The case and decision are now likely to have widespread positive implications for Bitcoin in the South Florida region, said the defense’s main expert witness. Espinoza’s legal team had....
The anti-money laundering bill concerning bitcoin Florida legislators just passed via an appropriations committee has been approved May 6 by both houses. The only remaining step in the process is for Florida’s governor to sign it into law, in which case it will go into full effect. The intent of the bill is to prevent money-launderers from using bitcoin....
Is it possible to be laundering money with Bitcoin if it’s not legally considered money? A court case in Florida may be about to give us an answer. Can’t Launder Money If It’s Not Money. The by-now infamous case concerns Michel Espinoza, a young computer programmer and early bitcoin trader arrested in January 2014, and later charged with dealing in....
At least two men in Florida have been charged for moving large volumes of bitcoins via the popular person-to-person exchange LocalBitcoins.com. They were charged under state anti-money-laundering laws following an investigation by the US Secret Service, said reports. Security blogger Brian Krebs reported that Michell Abner Espinoza of Miami Beach was arrested after a sting in which an undercover agent engaged him in a fake transaction to convert $30,000 worth of cash into bitcoins. In addition, 29-year-old Pascal Reid was also arrested after meeting with an undercover agent to exchange....