Crypto mining firm BIT Mining has agreed to pay a $4 million civil penalty after the SEC charged it with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged crypto mining firm BIT Mining, formerly known as Chinese online betting platform 500.com, with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act through a bribery scheme aimed at influencing Japanese government officials. The SEC announced in a Monday filing on Nov. 18 that the firm agreed to pay a $4 million civil penalty to resolve the charges.
Between 2017 and 2019, BIT Mining allegedly paid $2.5 million in cash bribes and gifts to several officials, including members of Japan’s parliament, in an effort to secure a bid to open an integrated resort casino in Japan. The company disguised the payments as fake consultant contracts and management advisory fees, according to the SEC.
Simultaneously, the U.S. Department of Justice stated that BIT Mining has also agreed to pay a $10 million criminal fine, with $4 million of that amount credited toward the SEC settlement.
“The illegal scheme started at the top, with the company’s CEO allegedly fully involved in directing the illicit payments and the subsequent efforts to conceal them.”
U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey
According to the DoJ, BIT Mining acknowledged under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines that the “appropriate criminal penalty is $54 million.” However, the agency reduced the amount to $10 million, citing the company’s “financial condition and demonstrated inability to pay the penalty.”
BIT Mining also entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the DoJ, resolving charges of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery and books-and-records provisions of the FCPA, as well as direct violations of the books-and-records provisions.