BIT Mining Ltd, formerly known as 500.com Ltd, has admitted to bribing Japanese officials to push its casino projects forward. The company faced a hefty fine of $54 million from U.S. authorities for breaking the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) between 2017 and 2019.

Here’s the situation: due to financial struggles, BIT Mining couldn’t pay the full fine. The U.S. Department of Justice stepped in and reduced the penalty to $10 million. Out of that, $4 million goes to a related civil penalty from the SEC.

The former CEO, Zhengming Pan, played a central role in this bribery scheme. He now faces charges for conspiring to violate FCPA anti-bribery and record-keeping rules. He’s also charged with directly breaking anti-bribery laws once and record-keeping rules twice.

To move forward with a casino resort in Hokkaido, Pan ordered his team to release $2.5 million in bribes. One of the lawmakers involved, Tsukasa Akimoto, received a four-year prison sentence and a $50,000 fine. He was just one of several federal employees who worked with Pan.

As crypto lawyer Bill Hughes pointed out, “Since its stock is publicly traded on the NYSE, the SEC got involved too. They settled a civil suit against BIT Mining for falsifying their books and records, which is also a violation of the FCPA, although not criminal.”

Pan allegedly hired consultants to help 500.com hide the bribes, which included cash, travel, entertainment, and gifts. To cover up these transactions, he used fake contracts and labeled the payments as legitimate business expenses, like advisory fees. Despite all this, 500.com failed to secure the resort bid in Japan.

In November 2019, before the bribery allegations came to light, Hokkaido’s governor decided not to nominate the prefecture for Japan’s first phase of casino legalization. This effectively nullified Pan’s efforts.

Since the announcement, BTCM prices have dropped about 6.3% in the market.

Looking ahead, BIT Mining is taking steps to improve its governance and compliance practices. The company now includes compliance metrics in senior management evaluations and has established anti-corruption policies.

Most importantly, BIT Mining has shifted away from high-risk industries. This move signals a broader effort to rebuild trust and focus on sustainable business practices.