August 23 2019
A Westwood man has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges for owning and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business where he exchanged up to $25 million in cash and virtual currency for individuals, including Darknet drug dealers and other criminals, some of whom used his Bitcoin ATM kiosk.
Kunal Kalra, 25 – who was also known as “Kumar,” “shecklemayne” and “coinman” – was charged today in a four-count criminal information filed in United States District Court and is expected to make his initial court appearance next month. Pursuant to a plea agreement also filed today, Kalra agreed to plead guilty to four felonies: distribution of methamphetamine, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, laundering of monetary instruments, and failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.
This is believed to be the first federal criminal case charging an unlicensed money remitting business that used a Bitcoin kiosk.
