The alleged co-operator of coin.mx, an illegal Florida-based Bitcoin exchange, has been indicted for making illegal Payments to take control of a New Jersey-based credit union.
Yuri Lebedev pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to make corrupt payments to a senior executive at Helping Other People Excel Federal Credit Union of Jackson, New Jersey, which federal regulators liquidated last month.
Lebedev was arrested along with Anthony Murgio, coin.mx's alleged main operator, in July. The arrests are part of a broader crackdown against a sophisticated global scheme that involved the hacking of JPMorgan client data, the manipulation of stock prices and the laundering of crime proceeds through coin.mx.
Charges in the case were unsealed last month. For his part in coin.mx, Murgio pleaded not guilty. Lebedev allegedly oversaw the computer programming functions of the exchange.
Roughly $247,000 was paid to one of the credit union's executives between May and December 2014.
The takeover of the credit union was the last piece of the puzzle that allowed for laundered money on coin.mx to flow back into the mainstream financial system.
Murgio allegedly obtained beneficial control of the credit union and installed Lebedev and other individuals onto its board that would steer it in the desired direction.
