On February 4, 2026, Moe Diab, former COO of Allied Wallet, secured dismissal of his DOJ indictment on conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud charges, per court filings. The dismissal followed a mistrial declared on September 20, 2025, due to Judge Young’s family emergency, preventing continuation of the trial. Diab, who pleaded guilty in August 2024 but saw a time-served plea rejected, argued double jeopardy barred retrial, as the mistrial lacked manifest necessity and alternatives weren’t explored on record, per. The court agreed, citing Fifth Amendment protections.
Allied Wallet, a payment processor, allegedly facilitated $150 million in fees for scammers, with the FTC suing in 2019 for $110 million in fraud, per. The DOJ indicted Diab in 2021 for enabling criminal transactions, per. Co-defendant Amy Rountree received time served in December 2024, while Thomas Wells’ sentencing remains pending, per. Owner Ahmad “Andy” Khawaja, a fugitive in Lithuania since 2020, faces extradition delays, with no updates in Joint Status Reports since August 2024, per. Khawaja’s $6M political donations and Trump ties complicate the case.
The dismissal highlights challenges in prosecuting payment processor fraud, especially with Allied Wallet’s role in enabling scams, per. Crypto markets, including Bitcoin ($113,234), remain stable, per CoinMarketCap, but the case underscores AML risks in P2P platforms, per. Paxful’s recent $4M fine for similar lapses reinforces DOJ scrutiny. Investors should prioritize regulated processors like Circle (USDC) with strong KYC/AML, per. Allied Wallet’s fallout may deter unregulated facilitators.
Diab’s dismissal, while a personal win, doesn’t erase Allied Wallet’s $150M+ fraud impact, per. Khawaja’s stalled extradition and political connections could prolong resolution, per. Investors should verify platforms via sec.gov or finCEN.gov, avoiding MLM-linked processors. Diversify into BTC or ETH ($4,070) with stop-losses below $112,000 and $4,000, per TradingView. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for updates. 2026 may see heightened AML enforcement, balancing innovation with security.
