Six Arrested in FBI Raid on Illegal Cryptocurrency Exchange
Six New Hampshire residents were arrested and charged with multiple counts stemming from the operation of an unlicensed money service business exchanging cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, for fiat currency. The U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire stated that some of the accused made significant effort to evade detection by providing false information to financial institutions about the nature of their business, implying that they were a religious organization receiving donations.
Among the six are local libertarian activists associated with the Free New Hampshire movement who have also recently run for public office. One of the accused is a man who legally changed his name to “Nobody” (fka, Richard Paul) and ran unsuccessfully for governor last year. Another is Aria DiMezzo (fka, James Baker), a transgender woman who reportedly identifies as a Satanist and ran for Cheshire county sheriff on an anti-police platform. A third, Ian Freeman, ran for a N.H. House of Representatives seat. The Free State Project is a political experiment that encourages Libertarians to relocate en masse to a single state where they can sway its politics toward maximum freedoms of life, liberty, and property.
The indictment alleges that, since 2016, the defendants operated a business that enabled its customers to exchange over $10 million in fiat currency for virtual currency, charging a fee for that service. They operated their exchange business through web sites and virtual currency ATM machines in New Hampshire. The indictment further alleges that the defendants knew they were in violation of federal anti-money laundering laws and regulations, opening bank accounts in the names of purported religious organizations, like the Crypto Church of NH, and falsely claiming the accounts held charitable donations to conceal their illegal business operations.
The group faces various charges that include conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, wire fraud, money laundering, and operating a financial crimes enterprise.
