US District Attorney Seeks to Retain Defendant in Crypto Shadow Banking Case

The United States Attorney for the District of Arizona (DA) is seeking to retain a defendant in custody in a case of alleged shadow banking for cryptocurrency companies. In a court filing released on May 1, the DA states that they are concerned the accused will flee.

The filing follows the official announcement published by the Southern District of New York Attorney in April, ordering to charge an Arizona citizen Reginald Fowler and Israeli woman Ravid Yosef for allegedly operating an unlicensed money transferring business and bank fraud.

The recent filing asks the court to detain the defendant pending trial as he purportedly presents a risk of continued economic danger. Since the defendant purportedly has access to millions of dollars in bank accounts around the world and overseas ties that would facilitate the flight — among other factors — the Attorney office declares that the defendant poses a flight risk. The document specifically states:

“A consideration of the facts show that Defendant is a significant flight risk given his connections overseas, his financial means to support himself outside the United States, his disregard for this criminal investigation, and his potential involvement in other criminal activity.”

As Cointelegraph previously reported, in 2018 the accused allegedly worked for several associated companies that provided fiat currency banking services to cryptocurrency exchanges, where Fowler made numerous misleading statements to banks in a bid to open bank accounts further used to receive deposits from individuals purchasing digital currency. Fowler and Yosef purportedly falsified electronic wire payment instructions to cover up the true nature of their business.

The recent filing claims that “companies associated with Defendant have failed to return $851 million to a client of Defendant’s shadow bank.”

In recent international cryptocurrency-related crime news, a Toronto judge ruled in April that an online drug dealer Matthew Phan must pay his entire $1.4 million bitcoin (BTC) holdings to the state in what is reportedly Canada’s largest ever forfeiture. Phan, who dealt in illegal narcotics online, had tried to convince law enforcement he had amassed his 281.41 BTC (worth around $1.4 million at press time) through other activities.