Detroit Man Pleads Guilty in Case Involving Bitcoins

Contact: Michael J. Conley
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257

Portland, Maine: Acting United States Attorney Richard W. Murphy announced that Sal Mansy, 41, of Detroit, Michigan, and TV TOYZ, LLC, a Michigan corporation, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to operating an unlicensed money service business.

According to court documents, Mansy bought and sold approximately $2,400,000 worth of the virtual currency “Bitcoin” for profit online between August 2013 and June 2015. Mansy would funnel proceeds from his Bitcoin sales through the business bank account of TV TOYZ, a limited liability corporation he owned and operated.

A year-long investigation into Mansy’s activities culminated in June 2015 with a search of his Detroit residence and the seizure of three of his bank accounts, containing a combined total of $118,134.57.

Mansy engaged in the buying and selling of Bitcoin for profit without ever registering his money service business with federal authorities. Through this failure to register, Mansy violated Title 18, United States Code, Section 1960, which makes it a crime to transfer money for others as a business without obtaining appropriate licenses.

Mansy faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

The investigation was conducted by the Portland, Maine and Detroit, Michigan offices of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations; and the Saco Police Department.