Coindawg Founder Arrested For Laundering Proceeds Of Fraudulently Obtained Small Business Administration Loans
Mar 23, 2023 · Sourced to the U.S. Department of Justice
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Ivan J.
Defendants
- Charles Riley Constant — age 54 · Allen, Texas · arrested
Charges
Conspiracy to commit money laundering
Max: 20 years in prisonCharles Riley Constant· charged
Theft of public money
Max: 10 years in prisonCharles Riley Constant· charged
Interstate receipt of stolen money
Max: 10 years in prisonCharles Riley Constant· charged
Financial actions
- seizure — 18 cryptocurrency ATMs in Texas and Oklahoma purchased with fraud proceeds to start Coindawg LLC, as well as Coindawg's website
From the announcement
“As alleged, Charles Constant helped to launder over $1 million of proceeds from loans that his co-conspirators fraudulently obtained from the SBA. He converted the bulk of the crime proceeds into Bitcoin for his co-conspirators and used a portion of the rest to start his own lucrative cryptocurrency ATM business. Thanks to this Office’s teamwork with the HSI, Constant is now facing serious criminal charges for his alleged crimes. We will continue to hold accountable people who steal funds intended for small businesses that struggled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“As alleged, Charles Constant specifically exploited the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program put in place to help our small businesses weather the COVID-19 pandemic, for the purpose of expanding his criminal money laundering enterprise. Constant is accused of defrauding the federal government and robbing U.S. taxpayers with his illicit money-laundering scheme. HSI New York will continue to exhaust every resource at our disposal to ensure criminals like this will be held accountable for their actions.”
Investigating agencies
Case details
- Prosecuting office
- Southern District of New York
- Assets
- Bitcoin
Primary source
Every fact above is drawn from the Department of Justice's own announcement — a public-domain government record.
Read the original DOJ release →This is a research and reference page compiled from public DOJ announcements, not legal advice. Details reflect the government's statements as of its release date and may not capture later developments such as appeals, dismissals, or overturned convictions. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.