A Canadian man, Firoz Patel, has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for laundering 450 Bitcoin worth over $43 million. This followed his 2020 conviction for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business linked to Ponzi schemes. Patel pleaded guilty to obstruction after failing to comply with a court-ordered forfeiture related to his previous crimes. U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich also mandated Patel to forfeit the 450 Bitcoin and pay a $24 million judgment. Patel had attempted to hide his assets by moving Bitcoin across various exchanges and misled the court about his financial status. His account on Binance was shut down for compliance violations, leading him to attempt laundering the funds through an offshore exchange. Despite his efforts to regain control over the frozen crypto, investigators had already taken steps to ensure his assets would remain under government control. Patel's case highlights ongoing issues with criminal exploitation of digital assets as the crypto industry faces substantial losses from hacks and scams.

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