A whistleblower complaint filed with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Unit (FINCEN) alleges that MasterCard and Visa launder child sexual abuse material and payment networks from sex trafficking in Onlyfans He claims he was unable to stop it. According to to Reuters.
The complaint, filed by a senior financial compliance expert, says a Reuters report claims payments giants are paying for illegal content on social media platforms where their networks pay to follow individuals who post photos and videos. It claims to be aware that the network is being used to pay. their own. According to Reuters, the whistleblower accused the company of “turning a blind eye to illegal revenue streams.”
In a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, Fincen said “Fincen does not comment on filings to the whistleblower program, including whether Fincen has received a submission regarding a particular financial institution.” has not commented on the investigation, including confirming whether it exists.”
Visa told CBS News, “We expressly and unequivocally prohibit illegal activity on our networks and condemn all forms of sexual abuse.” The company said, “We maintain robust compliance requirements for financial institutions and merchants submitting transactions to the Visa network. Those who fail to comply with our requirements will be terminated from our network.”
MasterCard said in an email that it “has zero tolerance for illegal activity on its network.”
“No evidence of current illegal activity has been provided to us,” the company added.
Sole Fan did not immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment.
According to Reuters, the whistleblower complaint was filed with Fincen and the U.S. Department of Justice and Homeland Security in January 2023. Whistleblowers and other human trafficking experts allegedly warned MasterCard and Visa about Sole Fan's illegal content in 2021 and 2022.
In 2021, Only Fan said it would take away sexually explicit content after requests from banking partners and companies that process financial transactions. However, the company overturned that decision It was soon followed by protests from some of its creators and users.
