The United States hasstarted the disbursement of a total of $115 million as compensation to 38,889 victims offraud schemes processed by MoneyGram. The victims, who are mostly elderly, arebeing compensated in full via the US Postal Inspection Serivce (USPIS), theDepartment of Justice (DOJ) announced in a statement on Friday.
The disbursement comes12 years after MoneyGram entered into a deferred prosecutionagreement (DPA) with the DOJ for “willfully failing” to maintain an anti-moneylaundering system that prevents fraud, especially against vulnerable groups.
DOJ explained thatMoneyGram extended the DPA in November 2018 and made additional enhancedcompliance obligations. As part of the extension, the American cross-borderpeer-to-peer payments and money transfer company forfeited $125 million, DOJ said, adding that the amount covered for the amount of consumer fraud transactions the company processed and is part of the terms of the DPA.
“The USPIS is usingthese forfeited funds to compensate the victims of the fraud through theremission process. MoneyGram completed its DPA in May 2021,” DOJ added.
Kraken Reaches $30M Settlement, Ends Staking Programme
Meanwhile, in a separate development, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken on Friday agreed to pay $30 million to the United StatesSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the US regulator accused theexchange of failing to register its staking -as-a-service programme. As part ofthe settlement deal, Kraken also agreed to stop offering the programme to itsUS customers.
However, while Kraken in a blogpost confirmed that it will immediately bar US customers from accessing the on-chain staking service, the cryptocurrencyexchange noted it will ‘unstake’ staked Ether only after the upcoming Shanghaiupgrade.
In its criticism of Kraken’s staking programme, the SEC noted that theoffering offered “very little protection” despite the risks involved.
“Whether it’s through staking-as-a-service, lending, or other means,crypto intermediaries, when offering investment contracts in exchange for investors’tokens, need to provide the proper disclosures and safeguards required by oursecurities laws,” Gary Gensler, SEC’s Chair, explained.
The United States hasstarted the disbursement of a total of $115 million as compensation to 38,889 victims offraud schemes processed by MoneyGram. The victims, who are mostly elderly, arebeing compensated in full via the US Postal Inspection Serivce (USPIS), theDepartment of Justice (DOJ) announced in a statement on Friday.
The disbursement comes12 years after MoneyGram entered into a deferred prosecutionagreement (DPA) with the DOJ for “willfully failing” to maintain an anti-moneylaundering system that prevents fraud, especially against vulnerable groups.
DOJ explained thatMoneyGram extended the DPA in November 2018 and made additional enhancedcompliance obligations. As part of the extension, the American cross-borderpeer-to-peer payments and money transfer company forfeited $125 million, DOJ said, adding that the amount covered for the amount of consumer fraud transactions the company processed and is part of the terms of the DPA.
“The USPIS is usingthese forfeited funds to compensate the victims of the fraud through theremission process. MoneyGram completed its DPA in May 2021,” DOJ added.
Kraken Reaches $30M Settlement, Ends Staking Programme
Meanwhile, in a separate development, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken on Friday agreed to pay $30 million to the United StatesSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the US regulator accused theexchange of failing to register its staking -as-a-service programme. As part ofthe settlement deal, Kraken also agreed to stop offering the programme to itsUS customers.
However, while Kraken in a blogpost confirmed that it will immediately bar US customers from accessing the on-chain staking service, the cryptocurrencyexchange noted it will ‘unstake’ staked Ether only after the upcoming Shanghaiupgrade.
In its criticism of Kraken’s staking programme, the SEC noted that theoffering offered “very little protection” despite the risks involved.
“Whether it’s through staking-as-a-service, lending, or other means,crypto intermediaries, when offering investment contracts in exchange for investors’tokens, need to provide the proper disclosures and safeguards required by oursecurities laws,” Gary Gensler, SEC’s Chair, explained.
