Adam Todd, founder and former CEO of the Digitex futures exchange, has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to the failure to establish an anti-money laundering (AML) program at the company. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida announced Todd's admission on May 7, stating that he knowingly caused Digitex to violate the Bank Secrecy Act.
According to the indictment, Todd operated an unregistered futures platform for U.S. clients from 2018 to 2022 and neglected to implement and maintain adequate AML and know-your-customer (KYC) programs. The former CEO could potentially face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao faced similar charges in a different federal district and pleaded guilty in November 2023. Zhao was subsequently sentenced to four months in prison in April, although a date for his report has yet to be determined.
Todd resigned from his position as CEO of Digitex in October 2022 but has since served as the lead developer at Digitex Games since February 2023, as indicated on his LinkedIn profile. The company faced scrutiny in 2020 following a data breach where a former employee reportedly stole the passport and driver’s license information of numerous users.
In response to the breach, Digitex announced that it would impose restrictions such as blocking U.S. IP addresses and requesting users to confirm their location outside the United States. However, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a lawsuit against Todd and Digitex in 2022, ultimately resulting in an order for them to pay $16 million in disgorgement and penalties the following year.
