WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) today introduced the bipartisan Combatting Money Laundering in Cyber Crime Act to enhance the Secret Service’s investigative authority over criminal digital asset transactions.
“As money laundering schemes continue to evolve, so must our capacity to combat them,” Grassley said. “By enhancing Secret Service’s authority to investigate criminal digital assets, our bill significantly improves law enforcement’s ability to effectively anticipate, identify and prevent cybercrime.”
“Dangerous criminals are constantly changing their tactics and using new technology to avoid detection,” Cortez Masto said. “Our law enforcement agencies need to adapt to keep communities safe. I will continue to fight to pass this bipartisan legislation that would help the Secret Service more effectively combat cybercrime.”
Find bill text HERE.
Background:
The Treasury Department and Justice Department have long warned that digital assets like cryptocurrencies are being used for money laundering, drug trafficking, ransomware attacks, theft and fraud schemes, terrorist financing and other crimes. While the Secret Service investigates a variety of cybercrimes, crimes perpetrated through unlicensed money transmitting businesses are currently outside of the agency’s jurisdiction.
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