Queens Man Convicted of Laundering Bitcoin and Operating Unlicensed Money Transfer Business | USAO-EDNY
Earlier today, a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Mustafa Goklu, also known as “Mustangy,” of money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transfer business as part of a scheme to launder the alleged Bitcoin proceeds of drug trafficking. The verdict followed a four-day trial before United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen. If convicted, Goklu faces up to 25 years in prison.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the sentence.
“The defendants offered their customers the opportunity to launder their criminal proceeds, remain anonymous and hide where their Bitcoin came from, so they could continue to engage in drug trafficking and other crimes while avoiding detection by law enforcement,” said the U.S. Attorney Peace. “With today’s sentence, Goklu’s illegal business of converting money from one form to another without the necessary license has been shut down and the defendants have been convicted of their crimes.”
Mr. Peace thanked the US Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division, for their outstanding investigative work in the case.
As evidenced at trial, in July 2018 DEA special agents identified an ad posted on localbitcoins.com in which an individual with the username “Mustangy” offered to buy up to $99,999 worth of bitcoins (“BTC”), a digital currency also known as cryptocurrency , and convert them to US currency for a fee. Law enforcement agents later identified Goklu as the individual using the username Mustangy. On July 11, 2018, a DEA Special Agent acting in an undercover capacity (“UC”) began exchanging encrypted text messages with Goklu to arrange the in-person exchange of BTC for US currency. UC and defendant then met and engaged in seven transactions or attempted exchanges of BTC for cash over a nine-month period, culminating in Goklu’s arrest in April 2019. UC indicated to defendant on several occasions that the source of the BTC defendant exchanged was drug trafficking and that as part of UC’s business, he sold oxycodone, Adderall, and marijuana. The transactions occurred in the defendant’s parked Mercedes-Benz, at a coffee shop in Sunnyside, Queens, and locations in Manhattan. The amounts exchanged in each transaction ranged from approximately $5,000 to $50,000 for a total of $133,000. During each transaction, UC transferred BTC to Goklu’s cryptocurrency wallet, after which the defendant retained a commission fee of seven or eight percent and gave UC the remaining amount in cash . The evidence introduced at trial also showed that the defendant engaged in similar illegal Bitcoin exchanges with several other individuals.
In July 2022, Mr. Peace was selected to chair the White Collar Fraud Subcommittee of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC). As chair of the subcommittee, Mr. Peace will play a key role in making recommendations to AGAC to facilitate the prevention, investigation and prosecution of various financially motivated, non-violent crimes, including mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, health care fraud. , tax fraud, securities and commodity fraud and identity theft.
The government’s case is dealt with by the office’s international section for drugs and money laundering. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gillian Kassner and Marietou E. Diouf are in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of Legal Specialist Bridget Donovan.
Accused:
MUSTAFA GOKLU
Age: 50
Sunnyside, Queens
EDNY Docket No. 19-CR-386 (PKC)
