Close X
Monday, December 2, 2024
ADVT 
International

Indian-Origin Man Kunal Kalra Agrees To Plead Guilty To Money Laundering Charges

Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Aug, 2019 08:16 PM


    A 25-year-old Indian-origin man has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges for owning and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business where he exchanged up to USD 25 million in cash and virtual currency for individuals, including drug dealers and other criminals.


    Kunal Kalra, also known as ''Kumar'', ''shecklemayne'' and ''coinman'', was charged in a four-count criminal information filed in the US District Court in Los Angeles. He is expected to make his initial court appearance next month.


    Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) criminal investigators seized nearly USD 889,000 in cash from Kalra's bank accounts and vehicle, as well as approximately 54.3 bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies.


    The maximum possible sentence Kalra could receive for these charges is life in federal prison.


    Kalra also agreed to plead guilty to four felonies of distribution of methamphetamine, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, laundering of monetary instruments, and failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering programme.


    This case is believed to be the first federal criminal case charging an unlicensed money remitting business that used a Bitcoin kiosk and was investigated by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration.


    According to the court documents, from May 2015 through October 2017, Kalra knowingly operated a virtual currency exchange business where he exchanged US dollars for bitcoins and vice versa. Kalra charged commissions for exchanging dollars for bitcoins, and he only dealt with high-volume customers willing to exchange at least USD 5,000 per transaction.


    Kalra admitted in his plea agreement that he exchanged bitcoins for cash from criminals, including those who received the virtual currency from selling narcotics on the Darknet.


    Kalra established bank accounts in the names of others, including fake businesses, which allowed him, for a time, to conceal his illicit business activities, court papers state.


    He also admitted to operating a kiosk - essentially an ATM - where his customers could exchange bitcoins for cash and vice versa. Kalra profited from every transaction conducted on the ATM.


    Customers who sought to do an exchange using this ATM were not required to provide their identities and Kalra did not install a camera or implement any features requiring customers to identify themselves, the plea agreement states.


    Kalra also admitted that in 2017, he exchanged approximately USD 400,000 in cash for bitcoins for an HSI undercover agent who contacted him online and later met him in person on multiple occasions at a coffee shop in Los Angeles.


    The HSI agent told Kalra that his virtual currency were proceeds of drug trafficking, and Kalra continued with various transactions.

     

    In June 2017, Kalra sold nearly two pounds of methamphetamine to an HSI undercover agent in exchange for USD 6,000. Kalra and the HSI agent later met at a coffee shop in Signal Hill to exchange USD 50,000 in bitcoins for cash, which the agent represented to Kalra was the proceeds of the sales of the methamphetamine that Kalra had sold to the agent.


    Kalra also faces federal criminal charges in San Antonio, Texas, that were filed earlier this month. That case alleges Kalra conspired to commit money laundering for a drug trafficking network that sold fraudulent prescription tablets, including some laced with methamphetamine and fentanyl.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Sushma Swaraj Told Shatrughan Sinha She Won't Quit BJP Even If...

    Shatrughan Sinha, who quit BJP to join Congress on the eve of 2019 general elections, fondly remembered his relationship with Sushma Swaraj, former external affairs minister, who died on Tuesday night in Delhi.  

    Sushma Swaraj Told Shatrughan Sinha She Won't Quit BJP Even If...

    Sri Lanka's True Friend: PM Ranil Wickremesinghe On Sushma Swaraj

    Sri Lanka's True Friend: PM Ranil Wickremesinghe On Sushma Swaraj
    Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Sushma Swaraj's focus on the bilateral relationship while keeping an interest on achieving regional policy objectives made a lasting impression among the Lankan public.

    Sri Lanka's True Friend: PM Ranil Wickremesinghe On Sushma Swaraj

    Pakistan Expels Indian Envoy, To Suspend Trade With India

    The decision was taken at a second session of National Security Committee (NSC) within a week presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan to review the situation following the Indian government's move on Kashmir.

    Pakistan Expels Indian Envoy, To Suspend Trade With India

    After Govt's Kashmir Move, Pakistan Expels Indian Envoy, Downgrades Diplomatic Ties, Suspends Trade With India

    The decision was taken at a meeting of National Security Committee (NSC) - the second within a week - presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan to review the situation following the Indian government's move on Kashmir.

    After Govt's Kashmir Move, Pakistan Expels Indian Envoy, Downgrades Diplomatic Ties, Suspends Trade With India

    PICS: Rajkummar Rao, Patralekha 'Bump' Into Rishi Kapoor In New York

    Actors Rajkummar Rao and Patralekha bumped into veteran actors Neetu Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor, who is undergoing medical treatment here.

    PICS: Rajkummar Rao, Patralekha 'Bump' Into Rishi Kapoor In New York

    Revocation Of Article 370 Could Trigger India-Pak War: Imran Khan

    India maintains that Jammu and Kashmir is its integral part and it includes Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

    Revocation Of Article 370 Could Trigger India-Pak War: Imran Khan