Irving man gets prison for crypto money laundering scheme
TYLER, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - An Irving man has been sentenced to serve time in federal prison for his role in a cryptocurrency money laundering conspiracy, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas Brit Featherston announced on April 6, 2022.
Deependra Bhusal, 46, pleaded guilty on April 30, 2021, to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Nearly a year later, he was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle.
According to court documents, Bhusal was involved in a conspiracy that used cryptocurrency to launder money stolen through scams over the course of several years. Bhusal's role was to open bank accounts and mailboxes used to receive victim funds, engage in transactions using those funds, conceal the transactions to avoid reporting requirements, and move the money to foreign co-conspirators.
Officials said that over the course of the operation, Bhusal was personally responsible for laundering $1,437,358.99 in criminal proceeds.
On March 10, 2022, two of Bhusal's co-conspirators, Lois Boyd, 75, of Amelia Court House, Virginia, and Manik Mehtani, 33, of McLean, Virginia, were indicted by a federal grand jury for a violation of the Travel Act, money laundering, and money laundering conspiracy
If convicted, Boyd and Mehtani face up to 20 years in federal prison.