The company, a Chinese online betting platform formerly operating under the name 500.com, was accused of allegedly orchestrating a bribery scheme against Japanese government officials. The SEC announced in its Nov. 18 announcement that the company agreed to pay a $4 million civil penalty to resolve the charges.

According to the SEC’s allegations, between 2017 and 2019, BIT Mining paid $2.5 million in cash bribes and various gifts to Japanese government officials to secure a bid to establish an integrated resort casino in Japan. Among these payments were members of the Japanese parliament.

In order to hide these illegal payments, the company recorded them under the name of fake consultancy contracts and management consultancy fees. These conduct clearly violated the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the SEC said.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that BIT Mining faces charges that it violated anti-bribery and record-keeping provisions for the same period. According to the DoJ, BIT Mining agreed that the appropriate criminal penalty under the US Sentencing Guidelines was $54 million.

However, considering the financial situation of the company and its inability to pay this penalty, the penalty was reduced to 10 million dollars. $4 million of this fine was counted as part of the civil settlement with the SEC.

BIT Mining entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice. This settlement includes charges of violations of the FCPA’s anti-bribery and record-keeping provisions.

The company was also directly accused of violating record-keeping provisions. Under the agreement, the company has committed to greater compliance in its operations and strengthening relevant audit processes.

The statements made by the SEC and DoJ revealed that there was a serious transparency problem in the company’s financial records and that this situation caused investors to be misled.

DoJ stated that BIT Mining cooperated in this process and took steps to address the malpractices it acknowledged. However, the severe consequences of the company’s past practices were among the factors that particularly damaged investor confidence.

BIT Mining’s integrated resort casino initiative in Japan was not successful due to the Japanese government tightening regulations on such projects. However, bribery schemes and financial irregularities caused the company to lose credibility both in the US and internationally.

This case once again showed how stringent regulatory controls in the crypto industry have become and how important it is for companies to comply with ethical rules. The SEC and DoJ’s tougher stance, especially in the fight against international corruption and bribery, is a warning for other companies in the sector.

BIT Mining aims to avoid encountering similar problems in the future by committing to providing more transparency and compliance in its activities after this process.