In September 2024, Patel entered a guilty plea to obstruction. Prior to starting his Payza jail term, Patel was accused of hiding 450 bitcoin.

In 2020, Patel entered a guilty plea to allegations of money laundering by Payza. On those accusations, he received a 52-month jail term in November 2020.

Patel would have been freed last year if he hadn’t believed he was cheating by hiding the unreported bitcoin.

Ferhan Patel, Patel’s brother and co-conspirator, completed his term and was freed in July 2022.

Firoz Patel faces a preliminary forfeiture ruling dated February 3rd, in addition to an additional 41 months in jail.

The judgment permits the forfeiture of Patel’s 450 bitcoins, which were seized by the DOJ in 2022 and were valued at $43.8 million at the time of publishing.