CMF Revokes Plusspay Registration After $84M Venezuela Gang Laundering Scheme

Published by James Harris on June 30, 2026June 30, 2026

Chile’s financial regulator revoked the registration of Plusspay, a cryptocurrency platform that prosecutors say processed more than $84 million in transactions linked to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC in 2024. The Comisión para el Mercado Financiero (CMF) announced the decision on June 26, stripping the firm of its ability to serve clients and ordering it to return all customer deposits.

The mechanics here are familiar from dozens of smaller crypto laundering cases: accept local currency, convert to stablecoins (in this case USDT and USDC), route funds outward to foreign wallets and bank accounts where tracing becomes harder. What makes the Plusspay case sharper is how it exploited a structural gap in Chile’s Fintech Law. The law requires two distinct steps, first registration, then a separate authorization to actually operate. Plusspay completed only the first step in early 2024, then advertised itself as CMF-regulated anyway. The CMF, by its own admission, lacks the authority to shut down unauthorized platforms directly; it can flag violations and cancel registrations, but unilateral closure is outside its legal reach. That gap is not unique to Chile, and regulators across Latin America are watching how this proceeding resolves.

The founder, Jose Manuel Rios Guaido, is now a fugitive after an arrest warrant was issued, having allegedly used a web of shell companies under the “Bex” brand to obscure fund flows through the Chilean banking system, with a related entity also traced to Florida.

The CMF has now launched a broader review of every company in its fintech registry, and several firms beyond Plusspay have already been flagged for failing to meet updated information requirements. That review matters because it signals Chile is moving toward closing the registration-versus-authorization loophole before it gets exploited again, not after. For legitimate crypto platforms operating in the region, the compliance bar is rising whether they expected it or not. The Plusspay case also lands weeks after Chilean police arrested nearly 20 people in a separate laundering operation that prosecutors described as one of the largest in the country’s history, suggesting this is a coordinated enforcement push rather than an isolated action.

Under Chile’s Fintech Law, operating without proper authorization is already a serious infraction; doing so while committing fraud is an aggravating factor in criminal proceedings, which means any companies currently in the registry with incomplete authorizations have a narrowing window to get their documentation in order before regulators arrive at their door.