Brazil announces tougher penalties for crypto money launderers.

Money launderers in Brazil who turn to digital currencies will face longer prison sentences and higher fines if a proposed bill gets through parliament. The proposed bill doubles the monetary penalty and prescribes over 16 years in maximum jail time for convicted offenders. Money laundering through cryptocurrencies has become a concern for many governments across countries in recent times, with some like China arresting over 1,000 this year for it.

Brazil lawmakers proposed an amendment to financial laws to stop money laundering through crypto. 

In Brazil, the Chamber of Deputies—the lower house in the country’s National Congress—is working to stamp out this crime through a proposed amendment to financial laws. A special committee in the chamber recently proposed bill 2303/15, which raises the fine for digital currency money laundering to two-thirds of the laundered amount. It also proposes raising the maximum jail time to 16 years and eight months for convicted offenders and the minimum sentence to four years. These sentences previously stood at ten years and three years, respectively.

Over 300,000 people have been scammed in digital currency-related pyramid schemes in Brazil.

The Chamber of Deputies is seeking to protect the public with its latest bill, Federal Deputy Aureo Ribeiro commented. In Brazil, over 300,000 people have been scammed in digital currency-related pyramid schemes, he alleged. The largest of these scams was the Bitcoin Banco Group, whose leader was arrested in July over allegations of embezzling $300 million in BTC. Known as the ‘Bitcoin King,’ the suspect claimed that his company had been hacked and lost 7,000 BTC but offered no tangible proof. The legislator believes that aside from curbing money laundering, the bill will also foster broader crypto adoption