The indicted man allegedly converted $2 million in cash to bitcoin through the unlicensed exchange Destination Bitcoin.
A grand jury has charged 46-year-old William Green of Wall Township, New Jersey, for operating an unlicensed bitcoin exchange.
The New Jersey Attorney's Office indicted Green on July 24, 2019, for running an illegal money-transmitting business called Destination Bitcoin.
Green allegedly converted over $2 million in cash to bitcoin, charging his clients a commission for the exchange. The authorities have now shut down Green's venture for not being registered with the appropriate authorities under his own name or as a business entity.
"Federal law provides that any person who owns or controls a money transmitting business shall register the business (whether or not the business is licensed as a money transmitting business in any State) with the Secretary of the Treasury," the statement from the attorney’s office explains.
Green was charged with the same offense earlier this year, the statement notes. He is now set to appear before a district judge on a date yet to be scheduled.
The case is the latest in a series of government crackdowns on illegal cryptocurrency exchanges in the U.S. In April 2019, Jacob Burrell Campos, a 22-year-old U.S. citizen, was sentenced to two years in jail for a similar offense. In the official document, Campos was accused of having not registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Department of the Treasury before operating his exchange.