OKX pleads guilty, pays $505M in penalties to settle DOJ charges

Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd, the operator of the cryptocurrency exchange OKX, has pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business in violation of US Anti-Money Laundering laws and has agreed to pay over $500 million worth of fines to resolve the matter.

OKX’s Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd settled the charges following an investigation by the US Department of Justice, paying $84 million worth of penalties while forfeiting $421 million worth of fees earned from mostly institutional clients.

”The Company acknowledged that, as a result of legacy compliance gaps, certain US customers had in the past traded on the company’s global platform,” OKX said in a Feb. 24 statement.

OKX said the number of US clients involved amounted to a small percentage of the crypto exchange’s total customer base and that none of these customers remain on its platform.

The Seychelles-based crypto exchange noted there were no allegations of customer harm and no charges against any OKX employee.

Acting US Attorney Matthew Podolsky, however, slammed the OKX affiliate for “knowingly” violating Anti-Money Laundering laws and facilitating over $5 billion worth of suspicious transactions and criminal proceeds.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge James E. Dennehy said the OKX affiliate went as far as advising individuals to provide false information to circumvent requisite procedures.

”Blatant disregard for the rule of law will not be tolerated,” Dennehy added.

The breaches occurred from around 2018 to early 2024, the DOJ said, adding that OKX has had an official policy preventing US persons from transacting on its crypto exchange since 2017.

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OKX said it would seek out a compliance consultant to remedy the issues and bolster its regulatory compliance program.