A Santa Monica man accused of using his cryptocurrency cash-exchange business to launder millions of dollars in alleged criminal proceeds will plead guilty Sept. 27 to a federal charge, officials said Tuesday.
Charles Randol, 33, agreed to plead guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program, a crime that carries a penalty of up to five years in federal prison. according to the US Attorney's Office..
He is expected to enter his plea before U.S. District Judge Hernan D. Vera in downtown Los Angeles.
From October 2017 to July 2021, Randol owned and operated a virtual currency monetary services company known as Digital Coin Strategies LLC. The company offered cryptocurrency cash exchange services in exchange for a commission, according to his plea agreement.
Randol personally met with anonymous customers to complete transactions, monitoring and operating a network of automated kiosks in Los Angeles, Orange and Bank counties that converted cash to Bitcoin and vice versa, and conducted Bitcoin-for-cash transactions for unknown individuals who mailed him large amounts of U.S. currency, including to post office boxes he controlled, court documents show.
Randol admitted in his plea agreement to repeatedly violating federal law and his company's own policies by facilitating suspicious currency exchange transactions and taking steps to conceal them from authorities.
For example, Randol frequently conducted in-person cash transactions exceeding $10,000 with anonymous or pseudonymous individuals, including individuals whom Randol knew only by nicknames such as Puppet Shariff, White Jetta, Yogurt Monster, and Hood.
In his plea agreement, Randol admitted to engaging in specific transactions from October 2020 to January 2021 in which he exchanged a total of $273,940 in cash for Bitcoin without requesting a name, proof of identity, Social Security number or any other information. on the buyer or source of funds being exchanged: violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Randol also allowed criminals to structure and launder funds through his Bitcoin kiosks at shopping malls, gas stations and convenience stores in Los Angeles, Glendale, Santa Clarita, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and Riverside, prosecutors allege.
