Reggie Fowler, Ex-Vikings Co-Owner, Receives 6 Year Jail Term

Reggie Fowler, the former owner of the NFL team Minnesota Vikings, has been sentenced by a New York judge to six years in prison for his involvement in a crypto fraud scheme. The scheme involved more than $700 million in irregular transactions carried out over a period of 10 months in 2018.

The 63-year-old Vikings co-owner was indicted on charges of bank fraud and money laundering. The United States Attorney’s Office in New York issued a statement On 5 June, it was revealed that Fowler had been sentenced to a total of 75 months.

US Attorney Damian Williams explained that Fowler’s conviction was a result of his engagement in processing hundreds of millions of dollars in irregular transactions for cryptocurrency exchanges, which operated as an illegal banking entity that violated federal regulations.

Former Minnesota Vikings co-owner sentenced to 75 months in prison for providing shadow banking services to crypto exchange

– US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) June 5, 2023

Reggie Fowler: Deception and Deceptive Tactics Unveiled

fowler’s sentence This brings an end to a long case that began with his arrest in 2019 for his alleged involvement in shadow banking activities. Shadow banking refers to non-bank entities that engage in bank-like operations, often of an illegal nature.

The particular shadow banking entity involved in the case was Crypto Capital Corp, which was established with the aim of facilitating transactions for cryptocurrency startups that operate outside the traditional banking system, either by choice or necessity.

BTCUSD makes a sudden drop to the $25K level today. Chart: TradingView.com

Initially, Fowler pleaded not guilty to all charges in 2020. However, in April 2022, he changed his plea to guilty. In his recent statement, Williams highlighted that a series of lies allowed Fowler to defraud and mislead multiple banks.

The confusing web of Global Trading Solutions and Crypto Capital

According to Williams, Fowler successfully carried out his criminal activities by setting up Global Trading Solutions (GTS) in February 2018. GTS collaborated with Crypto Capital and various other cryptocurrency firms based in Israel.

Within this arrangement, Fowler, GTS and the crypto firms employed fraudulent tactics to circumvent licensing requirements. They defrauded banks by providing false information that allowed them to open accounts that were used to process cryptocurrency transactions.

Williams said,

“At no point was Fowler, GTS, nor any crypto companies ever licensed as a money transmitting business in the United States, as required by federal law.”

Fowler took advantage of this setup by opening multiple undeclared accounts, effectively facilitating crypto transactions without the banks’ knowledge. Additionally, he failed to disclose GTS’ affiliation with crypto firms, adding further ambiguity over the true nature of the operations.

In addition to the prison sentence imposed on Fowler, he has been ordered to forfeit a staggering $740 million.

-Featured image from the XFL newsroom