The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada (FINTRAC) said it has fined Zeltox 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-terrorism financing laws.
The fine relates to more than 1,000 suspicious transactions and more than 1,500 large virtual currency transactions that the Canadian 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 involving child sexual abuse material, fraud, ransomware payments and sanctions evasion.
According to a press release, Cryptomus, formerly known as Serta Payments Ltd, also failed to keep its compliance policies up to date, assess the risks of illicit finance and report major business changes as required by law.
“Given that many of the violations in this case involved trafficking of child sexual abuse materials, fraud, ransomware payments, and sanctions evasion, FINTRAC was forced to take this unprecedented enforcement action,” said Sarah Paquette, the regulator’s CEO.