E-gold founders plead guilty to money laundering
E-gold and the online money-transfer site's three owners have reached a deal with the Department of Justice to plea guilty to charges of conspiracy to engage in money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The company now faces fines of up to $3.7 million, along with an agreed-on forfeiture of $1.75 million in funds. Douglas Jackson, one of the owners, could face a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of $500,000 on one of the conspiracy charges, and a sentence of five years and a fine of $250,000 on the other. His co-owners, Barry Downey and Reid Jackson, each face a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $25,000. E-gold, a survivor of the first dotcom boom, says it has about 3 million registered accounts, facilitating about $10 million in transactions a day.