TechFlow News, April 29: According to disclosures by the U.S. Department of Justice, French national Maximilien de Hoop Cartier was sentenced to eight years in federal prison by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for operating an unlicensed over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency exchange business. Cartier facilitated the transfer of over $470 million in proceeds from drug trafficking and other criminal activities through the U.S. financial system to Colombia and other destinations. He was also ordered to forfeit approximately $2.362 million in commissions and funds held in related shell company accounts.
Starting in 2018, Cartier converted cryptocurrency into fiat currency through more than ten U.S.-based shell companies, falsely claiming to banks that his operations involved software development and fabricating contracts and invoices to conceal the illicit origin of the funds. After law enforcement authorities seized his accounts in 2021, Cartier continued submitting forged documents, resulting in the partial return of some seized funds. In October 2025, Cartier pleaded guilty to charges of operating an unlicensed money transmission business and conspiring to commit bank fraud.
