Crypto Futures Trading Platform CEO Adam Colin Todd Charged with Violating Bank Secrecy Act

On Monday, February 12, 2024, Digitex Futures Exchange Chief Executive Officer Adam Colin Todd appeared in a Florida federal court over allegations of money laundering and failing to implement proper anti-money laundering procedures on his cryptocurrency futures trading platform.

According to court documents, Todd was arrested on Saturday and made his initial appearance in court on Monday. He has been charged with one count of violating the Bank Secrecy Act. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida alleges that Todd ignored requirements to maintain adequate anti-money laundering programs and know-your-customer verification on Digitex Futures.

As a futures commission merchant, Digitex Futures was required under the Bank Secrecy Act to verify customer identities and monitor for suspicious activity. However, the indictment claims that from 2018 to 2022, Todd allowed customers to trade on the platform without providing proper identification. Many were allegedly able to register using just an email address.

The government further asserts that Todd publicly advertised Digitex Futures as a “non-know-your-customer exchange” and even allowed users to circumvent IP restrictions through VPNs. This made transaction monitoring more difficult.

In September 2022, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission had also filed a complaint against Todd and Digitex Futures for other trading violations. A federal court order from July banned Todd and his companies from registered trading and mandated disgorgement and civil penalty payments totaling over $15 million.

If convicted of the current criminal charge, Todd could face up to five years in prison.

Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.