Amid a flurry of pardons President Donald Trump issued to white-collar criminals last week, one name that has largely escaped notice did not belong to a person at all.

In what may have been a first, Trump pardoned a corporation. The company to earn that distinction was a cryptocurrency exchange sentenced to a $100 million fine for violating an anti-money laundering law.

“As far as I know, the president has never granted a full pardon to a corporation.”

The move surprised scholars of presidential pardons, which have traditionally been considered the domain of human beings. Several experts contacted by The Intercept said Trump appears to have acted within his powers, but they were unaware of any prior instances of corporations granted full pardons.

“There have been plenty of cases where presidents have remitted fines or forfeitures, or something else like that,” said Margaret Love, who served as U.S. pardon attorney from 1990 to 1997. “As far as I know, the president has never granted a full pardon to a corporation.”

One longtime critic of the federal government’s lenient approach to corporate crime said Trump’s pardon sent a dangerous message.

“Putting corporate pardons on the table strengthens Trump’s corrupt and authoritarian power over corporations,” said Rick Claypool, research director for consumer advocacy group Public Citizen’s president’s office. “This has the potential to trigger a lobbying frenzy for any corporation that has faced federal enforcement.”

BitMEX’s Big Break

Trump’s pardon of HDR Global Trading, the owner and operator of crypto exchange BitMEX, was issued at the same time as pardons for three of the company’s co-founders and one of its employees.

Just like people, corporations can be convicted of crimes. While they cannot be sentenced to prison, they can face fines and serious consequences such as being barred from federal contracts.

The company and the four employees,

© The Intercept