Date: September 12, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Folsom company Amani Investments LLC, which operated Coinucopia kiosks that exchanged U.S. currency for bitcoin, forfeited $1 million in currency, a Mercedes-Benz, bitcoin, and other items for its criminal efforts to avoid reporting requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. In February 2023, Amani Investments LLC, doing business as Coinucopia, pleaded guilty to conspiring to avoid filing Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) that are required under federal law. The federal Bank Secrecy Act was enacted by Congress to combat the laundering of criminal proceeds, and it requires money services businesses to report each transaction involving more than $10,000 in currency. Willful violation of the requirement to file these reports, commonly called CTRs, is a federal criminal offense. According to court documents, on multiple occasions Amani Investments exchanged over $10,000 in U.S. currency for bitcoin without filing a CTR, as required by the Bank Secrecy Act. Many transactions were conducted during face-to-face exchanges of more than $10,000 in cash for bitcoin with a Managing Officer of Amani Investments, all without the filing of a CTR. In total, approximately $1 million was involved in the crime. Today the court finalized Amani Investments' forfeiture order, which included a Mercedes-Benz E63, bitcoin, gold coins, and $1 million in United States currency. "Federal currency transaction reporting requirements are intended to protect our financial system from the influx of criminal proceeds," said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert for the Eastern District of California. "The U.S. Attorney's Office will continue to hold accountable those who seek to evade these requirements." This case is the product of an investigation by Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, as part of the Northern California Illicit Digital Economy (NCIDE) Task Force, consisting of agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The NCIDE Task Force is a joint, federal task force focused on targeting all forms of dark web and cryptocurrency criminal activity in the Eastern District of California. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert C. Abendroth and Veronica M.A. Alegría prosecuted the case.
