Canada’s Anti-Money Laundering Watchdog Levies Record $126M Fine on Cryptomus

What to know:

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (Fintrac) said it fined Xeltox Enterprises Ltd. (which operates as cryptocurrency platform Cryptomus), a record C$176.96 million ($126 million) for  widespread compliance failures  under federal anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws.

The fine related to over 1,000 suspicious transactions and more than 1,500 large virtual currency transactions that Canada’s anti-money laundering agency said Vancouver-based Cryptomus failed to report between July 1 and July 31, 2024.

Investigators said the unreported activity included transactions tied to child sexual abuse material, fraud, ransomware payments and sanctions evasion.

Cryptomus, previously known as Certa Payments Ltd., also failed to keep its compliance policies updated, assess risks of illicit finance and report key business changes as required by law, according to a press release.

“Given that numerous violations in this case were connected to trafficking in child sexual abuse material, fraud, ransomware payments and sanctions evasion, Fintrac was compelled to take this unprecedented enforcement action,” Sarah Paquet, the regulator's CEO, said.