US Department of Justice Accuses KuCoin and Founder of Disregarding Anti-Money Laundering Laws; CFTC Files Civil Lawsuit

According to a report by “The Block,” the US Department of Justice announced on Tuesday (26th) that it has filed charges against cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin and its two founders, alleging that they violated anti-money laundering laws.

According to the indictment issued by the US Southern District Attorney’s Office in New York, KuCoin and its two founders, Chun Gan and Ke Tang, are accused of operating an unlicensed money transfer business and violating the Bank Secrecy Act. The US prosecutors claim that the exchange failed to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering program, did not establish “reasonable procedures” to verify customer identities, and did not submit suspicious activity reports.

The indictment states that KuCoin intentionally evaded US anti-money laundering and KYC regulations by falsely claiming that it did not have US customers, while in reality, KuCoin has a large number of US customers. Authorities allege that KuCoin allowed its platform to be used to launder over 9 billion US dollars.

The Department of Justice also stated that the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a parallel civil lawsuit against KuCoin on Tuesday. According to the announcement, KuCoin is accused by the CFTC of operating an illegal digital asset derivatives exchange.

After the news of the indictment broke, KuCoin stated on the X platform that its operations are functioning well and user assets are safe. They are currently investigating the details through lawyers and emphasize that KuCoin respects the laws and regulations of all countries and strictly adheres to compliance standards.