Sunnyside Man Found Guilty Of Laundering Bitcoin As Part Of Drug Smuggling Scheme: Feds – QNS.com

A Sunnyside man was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn on Tuesday, Oct. 11, of laundering Bitcoin and operating an unlicensed money transfer business after a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen.

Mustafa Gokiu, 50, also known as “Mustangy,” was found guilty of money laundering and operating an illegal money transfer business as part of a scheme to launder alleged Bitcoin proceeds from drug trafficking, according to federal prosecutors.

As evidenced at trial, in July 2018 DEA 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, and convert them to US currency for a fee. Law enforcement agents later identified Gokiu as the person who used “Mustangy.”

On July 11, 2018, a DEA special agent operating undercover began exchanging encrypted text messages with Gokiu to arrange an in-person BTC to US currency exchange. The agent and Gokiu met and engaged in seven transactions or attempted transactions with BTC to redeem over a nine-month period, culminating in his arrest in April 2019.

The agent indicated to Gokiu on several occasions that the source of the BTC the defendant exchanged was drug trafficking and that part of the undercover agent’s business was to sell oxycodone, Adderall, and marijuana. The transactions took place in Gokius’ parked Mercedes-Benz, at a coffee shop in Sunnyside and at other Manhattan locations. The amounts exchanged in each transaction ranged from $5,000 to $50,000 for a total of $133,000.

During each transaction, the agent transferred BTC to Gokiu’s cryptocurrency wallet, after which the defendant kept a commission of seven or eight percent and gave the undercover agent the remaining amount in cash.

The evidence introduced at trial also showed that Gokiu engaged in similar Bitcoin exchanges with several other individuals.

“The defendant offered his 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 U.S. attorney Breon Peace. “With today’s sentence, Gokiu’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.”

If convicted, Gokiu faces up to 25 years in prison.