SNEAK PEEK
- Bitcoin technology company S&P Solutions and its executives are alleged for operating unlawful crypto kiosks.
- The U.S. Secret Service’s Cyber Fraud and Money Laundering Task Force have seized 52 crypto kiosks.
- Since 2018, the company is running and evading regulatory protection and financial compliance requirements.
S&P Solutions, a Bitcoin technology company, as well as its three executives are charged with running unlicensed crypto kiosks in Ohio and taking advantage of crypto scam victims. The firm, along with its executives, is undergoing charges such as conspiracy, money laundering, and other various crimes linked to the operation of more than 50 unlicensed crypto kiosks in the state.
On March 1, a Cuyahoga County grand jury returned the accusation against the company; Sonny Meraban, the owner and founder; Reza Meraban, the manager; and William Suriano, the company attorney.
It was last week when the trio was arrested, aside from search warrants being executed on their homes in Illinois and Florida.
According to the prosecuting attorney Andrew Rogalski, robocallers, romance scammers and law enforcement impersonators transferred funds out of crypto wallets of users by abusing the absence of anti-money laundering protections in the systems of the company.
Rogalski shared that these ATMs are ready-made for fraudsters. He added that the ATMs direct the victims to certain Bitcoin of America ATMs and take money withdrawn by them from their own savings accounts or 401(k)s.
After this, they are guided to keep the cash at the machine in exchange for Bitcoin in a wallet that, according to them, is theirs, though they have no control over it.
Since most of the victims are usually elderly or vulnerable, in one case, in three transactions, an elderly man lost $11,250 to a dodgy kiosk within an hour of this scam. Furthermore, the firm pocketed a 20% transfer fee when this happened.
As per a March 3 report from Law360, the company is also accused of operating owing to written misinformation in terms of the nature of their business to government agencies. This allowed the company to operate the kiosks without a money transfer license.
Last week, 52 Bitcoin ATMs were seized; however, the firm owns more in Ohio and many other states. In 2021, Bitcoin of America made profits worth $3.5 million from cash deposits at these illegal kiosks.
According to officials, the company has been running and avoiding regulatory safeguards as well as compliance needs since 2018.
The United States Secret Service’s Cyber Fraud and Money Laundering Task Force led the investigation into the company and its executives.
The FBI’s Miami Field Office was notified in October that cryptocurrency ATMs were transforming into a popular vehicle for fraudsters to deceive victims in a growing trend of pig butchering scams.
