Founder of Chicago Cryptocurrency Company Charged with $10 Million Money Laundering Conspiracy

According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, Firas Isa, the founder of the Chicago-based virtual asset company Virtual Assets LLC (operating as Crypto Dispensers), has been indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of conspiring with accomplices to convert and transfer at least $10 million in proceeds from telecommunications fraud and drug crimes into virtual wallets using cryptocurrency ATMs, in order to conceal the source of the funds.

Isa and the company are both charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Both have pleaded not guilty, and a status hearing is scheduled for January 30, 2026.