President Donald Trump has issued a wave of controversial pardons, wiping clean the criminal records of several business executives who were convicted of serious financial crimes.

The pardons, announced Thursday, benefit the three co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX — Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed — along with former executive Gregory Dwyer. All had previously admitted guilt to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by deliberately sidestepping anti-money laundering requirements that are fundamental to preventing financial crimes.

Federal prosecutors had built a substantial case against BitMEX, demonstrating that executives knowingly allowed US customers to use their platform while deliberately ignoring regulatory safeguards. They characterized the exchange as a “money laundering platform” whose withdrawal practices were “a sham” — serious allegations that the executives ultimately did not contest in court.

The pardons eliminate penalties that many legal observers considered relatively light given the scope of the violations. Hayes had served only six months of home confinement, while others received probation or fines. The company itself paid $100 million to settle charges.

Trump also pardoned Trevor Milton, founder of electric vehicle startup Nikola, who was convicted of defrauding investors with false claims about his company’s technology. 

Prosecutors successfully proved that Milton had misrepresented a truck as Nikola’s own innovation when it was actually a General Motors vehicle with Nikola’s logo. Perhaps notably, Milton and his wife had donated $1.8 million to Trump’s re-election campaign shortly before the 2024 election.

Carlos Watson of Ozy Media also received clemency just hours before beginning a nearly 10-year prison sentence. Watson had been found guilty of systematically deceiving investors by grossly inflating audience figures for his media company — conduct that the sentencing judge described as representing “an exceptional quantum of dishonesty.”

These pardons, coming about three months into Trump’s second term, effectively nullify years of work by prosecutors and federal investigators who had methodically built cases against individuals who violated financial regulations designed to protect investors and the public.

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