The United States Justice Department has unveiled a legal case against cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin and its two founders for conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and violating the Bank Secrecy Act. The indictment alleges that KuCoin founders Chun Gan and Ke Tang deliberately neglected to implement an Anti-Money Laundering program, allowing the exchange to be used for money laundering and terrorist financing. The company itself is accused of running an unlicensed money-transmitting business and breaching the BSA. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams highlighted that KuCoin and its founders intentionally concealed the fact that a significant number of U.S. users were trading on the platform, leveraging its large U.S. customer base to become one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency derivatives and spot exchanges. The announcement of the criminal charges coincided with a civil enforcement case brought by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which accused KuCoin of multiple violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. The Department of Justice claims that KuCoin handled over $5 billion in suspicious and criminal funds. KuCoin was launched in 2017 by Gan and Tang, both Chinese nationals who are currently evading authorities. Similar criminal charges have been pursued by U.S. officials against other crypto exchanges and their executives operating within the country. Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, is set to be sentenced on March 28 after being convicted on seven felony charges, while former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is expected to be sentenced on April 30. This crackdown on crypto-related crime demonstrates the escalating efforts of U.S. enforcement agencies.