The founder of a Chicago-based cryptocurrency company has been indicted on federal money laundering charges, accusing him of laundering at least $10 million in wire fraud and drug crime proceeds, according to a recently unsealed indictment.
Firas Isa, 36, of Frankfort and his company, Virtual Assets LLC, have each been charged with one count of money laundering conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. If convicted, the charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
According to the indictment, Isa’s company operates a cash-to-cryptocurrency operation, including a slate of crypto ATMs where customers can convert cash into crypto.
Prosecutors allege that those ATMs were used, sometimes by victims of wire fraud, to deposit proceeds from fraud and drug offenses. Isa and his company then allegedly converted the proceeds into crypto and transferred the funds to crypto wallets to conceal the source of the money.
Isa and his company have pleaded not guilty to the charges and are due in a federal court in Chicago in January.
Isa did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Experts and law enforcement officials said Chicago has become a hub for cryptocurrency ATMs — often found at currency exchanges, convenience stores and gas stations — attracting users, including drug dealers and scammers, from other states, according to a Sun-Times investigation.
Last year, state legislators debated efforts to regulate the crypto ATMs, including legislation that would require the kiosks to be registered with the state and cap the amount of transaction fees they can charge. But the bills were never called for a vote.
In 2023, an Ohio court indicted Sonny Meraban and his company, the Illinois-based Bitcoin of America, of conspiracy, corrupt activity and other crimes after prosecutors said Meraban allowed scammers to transfer proceeds using his company’s crypto ATMs.
Meraban pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to probation in November 2023. His company also shut down that year.
The indictment of Isa and Virtual Assets comes as President Donald Trump has emerged as a champion of cryptocurrency. In September 2024, Trump announced that his family had partnered with two tech entrepreneurs to form a new crypto venture called World Liberty Financial.
Last month, Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the founder of crypto trading platform Binance, after Zhao pleaded guilty to criminal money laundering charges in 2023.
