High-profile digital currency entrepreneur Charlie Shrem, who served as the anti-money laundering compliance officer of a Bitcoin exchange that enabled customers to purchase illegal drugs on the black-market website Silk Road, on Thursday pleaded guilty to aiding the operation of an unlicensed money transmitter. Shrem and his accused co-conspirator, Robert Faiella, pleaded guilty at a hearing in New York federal court as part of a deal struck with prosecutors from the office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Faiella pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitter. Both men had been indicted for allegedly conspiring to launder funds linked to drug trafficking. Shrem was also charged with failing to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). "Robert Faiella and Charlie Shrem opted to travel down a crooked path – running an illegal money transmitting business that catered to criminals bent on trafficking narcotics on the dark web drug site, Silk Road. The approximately
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