The long arm of justice: How far can the DoJ really go in prosecuting foreign ac

[Cordillerabit]

In early October, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed its Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework, a report laying bare the government’s vision for emerging threats and enforcement strategies in the cryptocurrency space. The document is an important source of insight into how the laws governing digital finance will be soon implemented on the ground.

One of the fundamental principles that the government asserts in the document is its broad extraterritorial jurisdiction over foreign-based actors who use virtual assets in ways that harm U.S. residents or businesses. The guidance sets an extremely low bar for perpetrators of cross-border crime to clear before they face prosecution.

According to the framework, it can be enough for a crypto transaction to “touch financial, data storage, or other computer systems within the United States” to provoke enforcement action. Is the stringency of this approach unprecedented across other domains of financial crimes enforcement? What actual tools does the U.S. government have to counter criminals acting from overseas?

Business as usual
The idea that U.S. law enforcement is justified in prosecuting criminal actors beyond the nation’s borders if their activity has adversely affected individuals, companies, or infrastructure at home is nothing new, especially when it comes to cyber and financial crimes.

Arlo Devlin-Brown, a partner in the white-collar practice of law firm Covington & Burling, commented to Cointelegraph:

“The DOJ has consistently taken the position that U.S. criminal jurisdiction extends to activity with minimal ties to the U.S., and U.S. courts have in many cases embraced the DOJ's expansive interpretation of its authority. Cryptocurrency businesses that operate outside the U.S. but have any ties to this country — bank accounts, customers, marketing activity — are at risk of enforcement action.”
Dan Newcomb, attorney at law firm Shearman & Sterling, said that there is nothing particularly extraordinary about the extraterritorial approach enshrined in the Cryptocurrency Enforcement Guidelines, as the DoJ has previously used a “wide variety of tools to hold foreign-based actors responsible for crimes punishable under U.S. law.”

The authors of the report note that the U.S. has used anti-money laundering measures against foreign actors dealing in fiat currencies for decades. Asserting similar jurisdiction over those who use digital currencies appears to be a defensible extension of the principle already at work.

SOurce: https://cointelegraph.com/news/the-long-arm-of-justice-how-far-can-the-doj-really-go-in-prosecuting-foreign-actors