The order against Firoz Patel, 48, was made on Wednesday, shortly before he is due to go to jail in 2021 for a separate case
Release Date – 12:20 AM, Fri – 2 June 23
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New York: A U.S. district court has ordered the detention of an Indian-Canadian entrepreneur after he was indicted for laundering 450 bitcoins (BTC), worth $24,020,699.83 at the time of the transaction.
The order against Firoz Patel, 48, was issued on Wednesday, shortly before he is due to go to jail in 2021 for another case.
The two charges, unsealed on May 17, charge Firoz with money laundering and monetary transactions in property obtained by engaging in certain illegal activities.
U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich ordered Feroz to be detained pending trial, according to a U.S. Justice Department news release.
Previously, Firoz, his brother Ferhan and their company MH Pillars (doing business under the name Payza) were indicted in a Colombian district court for operating an unlicensed Internet-based money services business that processed more than $250 million in transactions.
Through Payza.com, an Internet-based payment service, defendants operated a money transmission business that operated without the requisite state license and knowingly transmitted funds derived from illegal activities.
Both brothers pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit crimes against the United States by operating an unlicensed money transmission business and a money laundering vehicle.
As part of the plea agreement, Firoz must disclose all known assets to the U.S. government.
On November 10, 2020, he was sentenced to 36 months in prison and a reporting date was given.
The court also imposed a forfeiture judgment on “any real or personal property” “involved” by Firoz Patel’s guilty plea.
According to court documents, between his sentencing and the date of the report, Firoz transferred 450 BTC traceable to Payza.com to an account at a virtual currency exchange in the United States.
The 450 bitcoins could have been forfeited in Firoz’s previous criminal case.
The virtual currency exchange account was opened using Firoz’s father’s name and date of birth, but the email address and phone number were controlled by Firoz.
When the virtual currency exchange requested more information about the account and the large deposit, it received a response in the name of an Indian employee of a Payza-affiliated company.
The account containing 450 bitcoins was eventually frozen.
Firoz started his career working at an Indian grocery store owned by his father in Canada.
After completing his studies and earning a degree in business administration from Montreal’s Champlain College, he started his own online payment solution, AlertPay, which was later renamed Payza.
