News
CT man’s alleged cryptocurrency business traded for $1 million
A Connecticut man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, according to to the federal authorities.
William McNeilly, 55, of New Haven, is charged with one count of operating an unlicensed money transfer business, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted, and three counts of making transactions of illegal money, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. years in prison on each charge, if convicted.
The indictment by a New Haven grand jury was returned on June 5, 2024, and McNeilly was arrested on June 6. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria E. Garcia in New Haven, pleaded not guilty and is free on $50,000 bond, according to federal authorities.
Authorities said the indictment alleges that McNeilly owned and operated Global Income Marketplace LLC from a storefront in West Haven and that, according to its Connecticut state registration, GIM engaged in “website builders scheduling repairs and upgrades of technological computers”.
McNeilly and another individual also operated Global NuMedia LLC, a limited liability company registered in Delaware, authorities said.
Authorities said McNeilly never obtained a license from the state Banking Department “to engage in the money transmitting business,” but allegedly “opened several bank accounts in the names of GIM and GNM, and a cryptocurrency trading account in name of GNM, and used the accounts to operate a business through which he exchanged customers’ cash, checks and money orders for cryptocurrency, charging a fee for the service.
From approximately July 2019 to June 2022, McNeilly allegedly exchanged more than $1 million in U.S. currency for cryptocurrency on behalf of clients throughout the United States, authorities said. “McNeilly knew that some of the funds involved in his illegal activity were derived from fraud schemes, and the investigation revealed that cashiers checks from victims of romance fraud schemes were mailed to GIM and deposited into GIM accounts,” authorities said in a note.
Authorities further stated that, in February 2021, “McNeilly was contacted by TD Bank and told that a $10,000 wire transfer to GNM had been reported as fraudulent and that he needed a license to operate a business of money transmitting,” but “despite the warning, and that TD Bank closed the GIM and GNM accounts, McNeilly continued to operate his money transmitting business through other GIM and GNM bank accounts.
The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service.