Epoch Times CFO charged in $67M crypto money laundering plot

Wow. I wonder what they were buying? It’s not spelled out in the article

I didn’t realize they were affiliated with Falun Gong. The only reason I even know this company existed is their billboards started popping up on the highway recently.

The indictment: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/media/1354021/dl

> The plot, prosecutors said, was simple: members of the Make Money Online (MMO) team would purchase crime proceeds via cryptocurrency at a discount and transfer those proceeds into bank accounts held by entities affiliated with newspaper.

> The illegal proceeds would ultimately be moved back into the Epoch Times accounts through "tens of thousands of layered transactions", including through prepaid debit cards and financial accounts opened using stolen identification information.

What are “crime proceeds”?

Are these seized assets by the Feds sold at a discount? Or stolen assets by criminals (also sold at a discount)?

Either way, sounds like classic money laundering as the follow up.

The indictment says very little about the underlying crime schemes. (I understand indictments usually don't say and don't need to say very much).

- "The prepaid debit cards were issued by different debit card companies and loaded with U.S. dollars that had been unlawfully obtained through various frauds (i.e. , the crime proceeds). For example, certain of the prepaid debit cards were loaded with fraudulently procured unemployment insurance benefits obtained using stolen personal identification information of U.S. residents." (page 4)

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