A Michigan man has been charged with running an unlicensed money transmitting business after selling nearly $150,000 in bitcoin online.
According to an indictment released by Detroit TV news services WD-IV Friday, 52-year-old Bradley Anthony Stetkiw ran an exchange through the LocalBitcoins website, conducting transactions at restaurants in the Bloomfield area. Stetkiw is alleged to have sold bitcoin as part of a business venture for approximately two years, at a volume that would make him subject to federal anti-money laundering regulations.
Of the total, the documents, filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, assert Stetkiw sold more than $56,000 worth of bitcoin to federal agents through six meetings.
According to the indictment:
Stetkiw is notably not the first LocalBitcoins user to be charged for trading bitcoin.
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Earlier this year, Detroit resident Sal Mansy plead guilty to the charge of operating an unlicensed money services business. He allegedly conducted $2.4 million-worth of transactions over a two-year period ending in July 2015.
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