Digitex Futures exchange CEO indicted for violating Bank Secrecy Act

A United States federal court has charged Adam Colin Todd — the founder of the Digitex Futures exchange — with violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to establish and implement an anti-money laundering program.

The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) is considered a critical tool in the fight against financial crimes. Establishing an AML program is vital to BSA compliance as it mandates financial institutions to keep records and notify the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of certain transactions.

The charges against the futures exchange founder were made public by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida on Feb. 12. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Miami investigated the case, and assistant U.S. Attorney Trevor Jones is the prosecutor.

The prosecution alleged that FBI Miami investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Trevor Jones is prosecuting it. Todd neglected to set up the AML program, making the platform open to abuse by those involved in money laundering and other illegal acts.

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According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Todd operated an unregistered futures platform between January 2018 and April 2022 and willfully “failed to establish, implement, and maintain an adequate Anti-Money Laundering program, including an adequate Know Your Customer program.”

The indictment also noted that the founder of the futures exchange has publically refused to implement KYC policies for Digitex Futures. The founder made his initial appearance in the court, and if found guilty, he might face jail time of up to five years.

The latest indictment against Todd comes nearly seven months after the U.S. federal court penalized him $16 million for failing to register the futures exchange with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). CFTC has also accused Digitex of manipulating the price of the DGTX token. As part of the judgment, the CEO and four companies under his control were banned from “trading in any CFTC-regulated markets” and required to pay $3,912,220 in disgorgement and an $11,736,660 civil monetary penalty.

Cointelegraph reached out to Digitex for comment and is awaiting a response.

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