The prosecution of the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (Jirs) of Paris announced on Tuesday jointly with the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) an operation which resulted in the seizure of 13 possibly illegal cryptocurrency ATMs.
As part of an investigation by Jirs Paris for illegal exercise of the activity of digital asset service provider (PSAN) and aggravated money laundering, judicial police operations were carried out on June 13, 2024 and December 17, 2024, announced the Jirs Paris prosecutor’s office and the AMF in separate press releases.
According to the prosecution, the investigation entrusted to the gendarmes of the research section (SR) of Paris, in co-referral with the anti-crime office (OFAC) and with the support of judicial customs investigators (DNRED ), “led to the seizure of 13 ATMs, worth 160,000 euros, in addition to 24,400 euros in cash during the searches carried out in June. »
According to the financial markets regulator, who reported the facts to the courts, these « DAB crypto » allow “the purchase or sale of digital assets (such as bitcoin) in legal tender”.
“These ATMs allowed the conversion of fiat currencies (FIAT) into cryptocurrencies, and vice versa, without any verification of the customer’s identity, for prohibitive commissions, and without prior registration of the service provider with the Financial Markets Authority ( AMF) »also underlined the public prosecutor.
The AMF press release recalls that to be legal, such services must be registered as PSAN.
Without this, the owners of these distributors face up to two years of imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros.
The AMF publishes a white list of service providers “registered or approved”she recalls.
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