A Miami man converted cash into crypto for a fee, but without a license. Now he’ll pay
A Miami man has pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, a federal crime. He used the business to exchange digital currency with customers including a known drug trafficker and money launderer.
In a plea agreement signed on Jan. 23 by U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe and entered into the docket the same day in Miami federal court, 43-year-old Raul Rodriguez, also known as raultiovigia, acknowledged running a business that converted cash into bitcoin and other digital currency for a fee.
He admitted to “knowingly conduct, control, manage, supervise, direct and own all and part of a money licensing transmitting business affecting interstate and foreign commerce, that is, a digital currency business,” according to court documents.
His business, RV Electronic Service Corp., received cash from customers and gave them digital currency in return. It also exchanged digital currency, often Bitcoin. Its fees were between 3.5% and 10%. The swaps were made through online platform LocalBitcoins.com.
According to the plea agreement, he exchanged at least $5,047,462 in digital currency from 2016 through 2022.
Rodriguez, whose sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 2 in Miami, could face up to five years in federal prison, followed by a term of supervised release of up to three years. The court could also impose a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of money involved in his business, whichever is greater.
In addition to U.S laws, Florida law mandates an individual or a business to have a license to conduct a money transferring business. Running one without a license is a felony. The business must also register with the U.S. Department of Treasury within 180 days following its establishment.
And the U.S. Department of Treasury’s FinCEN, or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, requires any administrator or exchanger of virtual currency such as Bitcoin to register with the Department of Treasury.
According to court documents, Rodriguez’s customers included a narcotics trafficker, Oslanir Delisle, and a professional money launderer, Vitali Kvashenko, both previously prosecuted and sentenced in the Southern District of Florida.
On one occasion, law enforcement witnessed Rodriguez giving Delisle tens of thousands of dollars in a plastic bag in exchange for digital currency at Rodriguez’s residence, according to court documents.
Lapointe, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of the Internal Revenue Service’s Miami Field Office, announced the guilty plea earlier this week.
IRS’ Criminal Investigation office in Miami investigated the case along with the FBI’s Miami Field Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Miami Field Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Browne is prosecuting it. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marx Calderon and Emily Stone are handling asset forfeiture.
More information on the case
Court documents may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov. The case number is 23-cr-20474.
