The CEO of Digitex Futures Exchange has been charged with violating the Bank Secrecy Act

A US federal court has charged Adam Todd, founder and CEO of Digitex Futures Exchange, with failing to establish and implement an anti-money laundering (AML) program in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act.

The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) is considered a vital tool in the fight against financial crime. Establishing an AML program is critical to BSA compliance, as it requires financial institutions to maintain records and report certain transactions to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The indictment against the exchange's CEO was announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Miami conducted the investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Trevor Jones is prosecuting the case.

Attorney Todd forgot to set up the AML program, leaving the platform open to abuse by those involved in money laundering and other illegal activities.

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According to US Attorney Todd It 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 lawsuit also alleges that Todd publicly refused to implement Know Your Customer policies for Digitex Futures. Todd made his first court appearance and could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

The latest indictment against Todd comes nearly seven months after a US federal court ordered him to pay $16 million for failing to register futures contracts with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The CFTC accused Digitex of manipulating the price of the Generation Digitics token. As part of the ruling, the CEO and four companies under his control were banned from “trading in any CFTC-regulated markets” and must pay nearly $4 million in restitution and about $12 million in civil penalties.

Cointelegraph reached out to Digitex for comment and did not receive a response by press time.

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