Firoz Patel, founder of the crypto payments app Payza, has been sentenced to an additional three and a half years in prison after attempting to conceal 450 Bitcoin, valued over $43.5 million. This sentence follows his previous conviction on money laundering charges. In September, Patel pleaded guilty to obstructing an official proceeding. After being convicted in 2020 for operating Payza without a license and laundering money, Patel was initially sentenced to three years in prison. Despite being ordered to forfeit any illicitly gained property, he falsely claimed to only possess $30,000 in a retirement account and subsequently tried to hide his Bitcoin by transferring it through various exchanges, which flagged and froze his accounts. Furthermore, Patel attempted to hire someone to impersonate a lawyer to mislead prosecutors and facilitate his escape from the U.S. before he could face further legal action. Apart from his prison sentence, Patel is mandated to forfeit over $24 million, including the BTC held by Blockchain.com.

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