After years of bold claims and flashy promises, the crypto world has witnessed another fraudster’s fall from grace. Rowland Marcus Andrade, founder of AML Bitcoin, was found guilty by a federal jury on March 12, 2025, on charges of wire fraud and money laundering. The verdict ends a legal saga that began in June 2020. Shocking? Not really.
Crypto con artists keep falling—right on schedule and exactly as expected.
Andrade’s scheme was textbook crypto fraud. He duped investors during his 2017-2018 initial coin offering, bragging about revolutionary compliance with anti-money laundering regulations. Pure fiction. He even fabricated a partnership with the Panama Canal Authority. Classic move from the crypto-scammer playbook.
The money trail tells the real story. Andrade diverted over $2 million from token sales straight into his pockets. Texas properties, luxury cars—the usual suspects. Investors’ hard-earned money funded his lavish lifestyle while they were left holding worthless tokens. Ouch.
His co-conspirator, lobbyist Jack Abramoff, already pleaded guilty in 2020 and coughed up $50,000 in penalties. Andrade’s defense team tried blaming Abramoff. Nice try, but the jury didn’t buy it.
Sentencing is set for July 22, 2025, and Andrade faces up to 30 years in prison—20 for wire fraud and 10 for money laundering. The case involved meticulous financial investigation with authorities tracking stolen funds through multiple bank accounts. Unlike legitimate tokens that follow smart contract standards, AML Bitcoin operated without transparency or accountability. The conviction marks a significant milestone in prosecuting cryptocurrency fraud in the United States. His ill-gotten assets are subject to forfeiture, and a parallel SEC civil case looms on the horizon.
This conviction sends a clear message: the Department of Justice isn’t messing around with crypto fraud. The case highlights everything wrong with unregulated ICOs and serves as a brutal reminder about cryptocurrency investment risks.
Meanwhile, victims who believed in Andrade’s technological revolution lost millions. They bought into the hype about anti-money laundering features that never existed.
