Ian Freeman, a political prankster connected to the Free Keene movement and formerly of the Free State Project, who ran for governor in 2014 and 2016 as a Democrat, was found guilty of money laundering, conspiracy to launder money, operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business, and four counts of tax evasion. He laundered more than $10 million in proceeds from romance scams and other Internet frauds by exchanging dollars for bitcoin. Freeman earned more than $1 million in fees and failed to pay the IRS — paying no taxes and concealing income between 2016 and 2019.
Freeman’s bitcoin kiosk machines also disabled “know your customer” features. By failing to register his business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, fraudsters used his business to scam others. Freeman also used various churches in instructed bitcoin customers, some who were victims of scams themselves, to lie to banks and other institutions and say their deposits were church donations.
U.S. Attorney Jane Young said the “culture of scamming” on the Internet had become “a pervasive societal problem” and pointed to Freeman as an enabler of the scammers.
“Today’s swift verdict sends a strong message that this type of money laundering will not be tolerated,” she said. “Stopping scammers by disrupting their methods for hiding their tracks is an important federal objective. This prosecution is an important step in meeting that objective.”
Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special…
