Fitzgerald Introduces Bill to Combat Illicit Digital Asset Transactions

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05) introduced the Combating Money Laundering in Cyber Crime Act to align criminal and banking statutes and clarify the U.S. Secret Service’s (USSS) investigative authority over crimes related to illicit digital asset transactions.

USSS investigates a variety of cyber-related criminal activity, including the illicit use of digital assets, through its global network of 44 Cyber Fraud Task Forces. However, significant aspects of this illicit activity involve unlicensed money transmitting businesses, the illicit structuring of transactions, and other criminal or unlawful activity in or against organizations that are not federally insured financial institutions, but are financial institutions as defined under the Bank Secrecy Act (31 U.S.C. § 5312). This distinction has presented a significant gap for the U.S. Secret Service in addressing new forms of criminal activity involving digital assets.

“Since 2015, the USSS has investigated more than 302 cases involving digital assets, resulting in 535 seizures with an appraised value of over $113.5 million,” said Rep. Fitzgerald. “It’s imperative that the USSS is empowered to continue this important work. In order to do so, we must align outdated U.S. code to ensure the agency can address emerging forms of criminal activity involving digital assets. I’m proud to introduce the Combating Money Laundering in Cyber Crimes Act to help precisely accomplish this task.”

This bipartisan bill is co-lead by Rep. Zach Nunn (IA-03), Rep. Gregory Meeks (NY-05), and Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-04). Read the full bill here. 

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