Speaking on Wednesday evening on a panel in Manhattan, former BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem made some remarks with regard to his ongoing case. He was joined on stage by filmmaker Nicholas Mross, his brother Daniel Mross, and New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper, following the premiere of The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin documentary.
Shrem is, of course, accused of laundering nearly $1 million to users of the former Silk Road deep web marketplace. He was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in late January. (An alleged accomplice was also arrested around the same time.)
Shrem’s appearance at the premiere was unusual. He’s living at his parents’ home in Brooklyn, New York under house arrest. He was permitted to attend the premiere, but was required to wear an ankle bracelet that monitored his movements.
“I talk to lawyers every day so I won’t go to jail,” he said, according to BetaBeat. “I don’t want to go to jail. It’s terrifying.”
He adds that, “we found a lot of mistakes and holes in the case.”
As one would come to expect, Shrem didn’t divulge just what the holes and mistakes in his case were.
Shrem also noted that his house arrest experience — as anyone would imagine — isn’t pleasurable in the least.
“I have to pretty much be here [at his mother’s home] all the time, every day. I can’t even go outside. Unless I’m going to my lawyer’s office, which is once or twice a week. I pretty much lost my freedom and lost everything I built over the past year.”
He is currently awaiting his trial.
The most serious charge which Shrem is facing, money laundering conspiracy, carries a maximum prison sentence of twenty years.
[textmarker color=”C24000″]Source[/textmarker] BetaBeat
