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Reginald Fowler Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud in New York
Reginald Fowler, a former co-owner of the Vikings, has pleaded guilty to providing shadow banking services to cryptocurrency exchanges in New York.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Fowler, 73, committed bank fraud, bank fraud conspiracy, operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, and wire fraud.
The scheme involved Fowler’s work for Crypto Capital, a payment processor that provided fiat-currency banking services to various cryptocurrency exchanges through a series of bank accounts opened under false pretenses.
As part of the scheme, Crypto Capital and Fowler fraudulently processed transactions equaling approximately $750 million in deposits and withdrawals from such exchanges.
In addition, Fowler defrauded the Alliance of American Football (AAF) by claiming that millions of dollars belonging to Crypto Capital and/or Global Trading Solutions customers were instead his own assets, which he was free to use to secure his investments in the AAF.
Based on those misrepresentations, Fowler acquired a significant investment stake in the AAF yet was unable to fund that investment, which contributed to the AAF’s demise.
Two of Fowler’s co-conspirators, OZ YOSEF and RAVID YOSEF, remain at large.
Fowler’s guilty plea reflects the ongoing efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s office to investigate and prosecute those in the cryptocurrency sector who seek to operate in the shadows.
According to the allegations in the Indictment, the Superseding Indictments, and statements made during the plea and other proceedings in the case, in or about February 2018, Fowler established Global Trading Solutions LLC (GTS) and began working with Crypto Capital and other related companies, which were operated by Israeli nationals OZ YOSEF and RAVID YOSEF, among others.
The Crypto Companies marketed themselves as providing a seamless way for individuals to exchange government-backed, or ‘fiat,’ currency for cryptocurrency. The Crypto Companies offered these services at a time when traditional banks were reluctant to handle cryptocurrency transactions.
Because of the demand for the Crypto Companies’ services, a number of cryptocurrency exchanges began using the Crypto Companies to process their fiat-to-cryptocurrency transactions.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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