A Yorba Linda man was sentenced to two years in federal prison after he admitted to operating an unlicensed virtual currency business and laundering millions in Bitcoin and cash, federal authorities said.

Kais Mohammad, 37, pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, money laundering and failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program in September 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. He was handed the sentence Friday by Judge Josephine Staton.

Mohammad owned and operated Herocoin, an illegal virtual-currency money services business, from December 2014 to November 2019, and offered Bitcoin-cash exchange services, Ciaran McEvoy, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. He charged commissions of up to 25%, well above the market rate.

The company operated a network of kiosks at various malls, gas stations and convenience stores throughout Southern California, where customers could either buy Bitcoin with cash, or sell Bitcoin in exchange for cash that would be dispensed through the machines, McEvoy said.

Mohammad also knew that some of his clients’ funds came from illegal activity, McEvoy said. In all, his company exchanged between $15 million and $25 million both in person and at the kiosks.

A former bank employee, Mohammad knew he was required to register his company with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, that he needed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and that he needed to report various virtual currency exchanges, but chose not to, McEvoy said.

He eventually registered the company after he was contacted in July 2018 by FinCEN, but still failed to conduct due diligence and report suspicious customers, McEvoy said.

Over a seven-month period, ending in August 2019, Mohammad also conducted in-person transactions with undercover agents, who said they worked for a karaoke bar that employed women from Korea who entertained men in various ways. Mohammad took $16,000 in cash in exchange for Bitcoin even after the agents said the funds were from illegal activity, McEvoy said.

As part of the plea agreement, Mohammad forfeited 17 kiosks and an unspecified amount of cash and cryptocurrency, officials said last year.