After getting caught in an undercover sting, Jason Klein a LocalBitcoins user has pleaded guilty to running an unlicensed money transmission business.
Confirming the matter, US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri said in a statement that:
Jason R. Klein, 37, of Nixa, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to a federal information that charges him with conducting an unlicensed and unregistered money transmitting business.
Klein was the founder of two technology-based companies: Logic Forte and Datality Networks. Logic Forte purportedly provided consulting and computer programming assistance for the restaurant industry. Datality Networks purportedly provided Internet housing and network consulting.
Klein is the president of the Association of Information Technology Professionals (“AITP”) – Southwest Missouri. AITP is a professional association focused on technology education for business professionals. AITP’s southwest Missouri chapter has approximately 230 members and is the largest chapter in the United States.
The Justice department said by pleading guilty today, Klein admitted that he represented himself on the Internet to be a bitcoin exchanger. However, Klein was not a licensed money transmitter with the state of Missouri or with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, as required by federal and state law.
