Ray Youssef DOJ Indictment 2026
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Summary
Ray Youssef, co-founder and former CEO of the peer-to-peer crypto marketplace Paxful and founder of NoOnes, was federally indicted in early 2026 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California on charges alleging conspiracy to violate Bank Secrecy Act anti-money-laundering requirements, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and facilitating illegal prostitution-related transactions tied to the Backpage.com advertising site. The indictment followed Paxful Holdings Inc.'s own guilty plea and $4 million criminal penalty in the same court, and a 2024 guilty plea by Paxful co-founder Artur Schaback. Youssef denies the charges and is fighting them; as of this writing no conviction has occurred and the case is pending, so allegations against him remain unproven.
Connected Entities
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Timeline(11 events)
July 2015
Alleged start of the period in which, according to DOJ, Paxful co-founder Artur Schaback failed to maintain KYC/AML controls, running through June 2019.
Department of Justice2016
Youssef and a co-founder reportedly faced arrest on firearm and cocaine possession charges; outcome unclear (low-confidence, single source).
WeetrackerJanuary 2017
Start of period (through September 2019) in which Paxful allegedly facilitated approximately 26.7 million trades worth roughly $3 billion, per DOJ, including bitcoin transfers connected to Backpage.com.
Department of JusticeApril 2023
Paxful temporarily suspended its marketplace, citing regulatory challenges and staff departures.
CointelegraphJuly 2024
Artur Schaback pleaded guilty to conspiracy to fail to maintain an effective AML program at Paxful.
Department of JusticeOctober 2025
Paxful Holdings announced it would wind down all operations by November 1, 2025, publicly blaming 'historic misconduct' by former co-founders Ray Youssef and Artur Schaback.
MariblockDecember 2025
Paxful Holdings Inc. agreed to plead guilty in the Eastern District of California to a three-count criminal information covering Travel Act, unlicensed money-transmitting, and Bank Secrecy Act AML conspiracy charges.
Department of JusticeFebruary 2026
Paxful Holdings Inc. was sentenced to a $4 million criminal penalty (reduced from a $112.5 million guideline figure); FinCEN separately imposed a $3.5 million civil penalty.
CoinDeskFebruary 2026
Ray Youssef was reportedly arrested after being deported from Mexico, taken into custody in Los Angeles, and later released under court-ordered supervision pending trial.
BeInCryptoFebruary 2026
NoOnes confirmed Ray Youssef was no longer CEO of the company, stating his legal matters were 'personal and unrelated' to the company.
Techpoint AfricaMarch 2026
News outlets reported the DOJ had indicted Ray Youssef personally on AML conspiracy, unlicensed money-transmitting, and prostitution-facilitation-related charges, days after Paxful's corporate sentencing.
BeInCryptomodel: claude-code-investigator
generated: 9/19/2026, 12:18:22 PM
last updated: 9/19/2026, 5:12:57 PM
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