Another person involved in the operation of failed Bitcoin exchange Coin.mx has been arrested following the ongoing investigation by Federal Authorities into the case.

65-year-old Michael Murgio from Palm Beach County, Florida, the father of Anthony Murgio who was arrested back in July in relation to the operation of the exchange, has been indicted in the United States Federal Court in Manhattan for his role in participating in a scheme to pay bribes to let the exchange’s operators gain control of a credit union.

Michael Murgio’s direct role in the scheme is not clear from reports, but we do know his son Anthony became involved with the credit union after he, and fellow accused Yuri Lebedev failed to deceive major financial institutions to accept funds from Coin.mx by pretending they were running the “Collectables Club,” a members-only association of individuals who discussed, bought, and sold collectible items.

Murgio Junior and Lebedev are then alleged to have obtained beneficial control of Helping Other People Excel Federal Credit Union to use as a way to channel funds from Coin.mx through bribery, including the bribery of Trevon Gross, a pastor and former chairman of the credit union.

Ultimately their greed got the better of them as a serious increase in funds flowing through the credit union came to the attention of the National Credit Union Administration, who then alerted authorities that something untoward was going on.

Money laundering

There has never been a definitive figure as to how much Coin.mx dealt with prior to its closure, but we do know for sure that they had tens of thousands of customers, meaning that potentially it was involved in the money laundering of tens of millions of dollars, including money from ransomware scams.

The charges against those previously indicted include conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, along with allegations that owner Gery Shalon was involved in the hacking of JP Morgan.

Murgio senior is expected to appear before a court April 26 while Murgio junior is currently out on bail with an expected hearing date set for October.

Image credit: Coin.mx/ screenshot