The Special Committee of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies proposed to raise penalties for money laundering using cryptocurrencies from one-third to two-thirds of the amount, and the prison term to four to sixteen years and eight months.
The amendments aim to tighten penalties for offenses under the law regulating cryptocurrency trading and payments using digital assets.
The Chamber of Deputies will consider the bill at a plenary session.
One of the bill’s authors, Aureo Ribeiro, intends to combat crypto pyramids. In his assessment, more than 300,000 people have fallen victim to such fraud.
“There will be no more speculators using technology to dupe millions of Brazilians”, the deputy said.
In an interview with Cointelegraph Brazil, Ribeiro expressed confidence that the bill’s passage would pave the way for Bitcoin to be legalized as a payment currency in the country.
In August, Brazilian police arrested $28.7 million in cryptocurrencies during Operation Kryptos, linked to an alleged financial pyramid.
In July, law enforcement shut down Bitcoin Banco Group, whose actions inflicted losses on about 7,000 people totaling over $300 million.
Earlier, former Brazilian Manchester United midfielder Anderson (Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira) became a suspect in a case of theft and money laundering through cryptocurrency.
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