The Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Larry Harmon, founder of the crypto mixer “Helix,” to recover the $60 million fine payment levied on the indicted CEO for reportedly violating the preventive measures framed to curb money laundering in the platform.
In the lawsuit filed on October 19th, the Justice Department said that “Harmon actively aided cybercriminals and other threat actors in circumventing the policies, procedures, and internal controls in place at U.S.-based convertible virtual currency exchanges.”
“Through his services, Harmon promoted unlawful online activities by concealing the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, and the control of the proceeds of online drug sales, amongst other illegal online activities,” the lawsuit reads.
In 2020, Harmon was formally charged by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the intelligence arm of the US Treasury Department, for violating the preventive measures and guidelines framed to curb money laundering. He was accused of conspiring with Darknet vendors to launder cryptocurrencies generated through drug trafficking and other illegal activities.
The FinCEN said that Harmon failed to “collect and verify customer names, addresses, and other identifiers” on more than 1.2 million bitcoin transactions from June 2014 to December 2017, valued at $300 million at the time.
A year later, Helix’s CEO pleaded guilty to the charges and was slammed with a fine of $60 million, which he’s yet to pay.
Harmon admitted to a $311,000 restitution order as court records were reviewed. Due to the criminal investigation at hand, the agency had to cease various Bitcoin wallet addresses from Harmon. However, Harmon’s sentencing is still pending until the investigation is confirmed and finalized, therefore, it “remains active and ongoing,” the government said.
