<p>Efforts between U.S. prosecutors and Reginald Fowler – the former Minnesota Vikings investor accused of running an unlicensed money transmission business for crypto exchanges – to strike a plea deal have broken down, according to Bloomberg News.</p> <p>Fowler rejected a plea deal – which seemed <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/ex-nfl-team-owner-pleads-guilty-to-running-unlicensed-money-transmitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">all but set to occur</a> following a court hearing last month – amid disagreement over the amount of money he would be required to forfeit, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-31/ex-vikings-investor-rejects-plea-deal-in-cryptocurrency-case?srnd=technology-vp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>. Word of the talks breakdown was included in <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15026648/49/united-states-v-fowler/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a letter</a> submitted to the court by prosecutors on Friday. </p> <p>The letter stated:</p> <blockquote> <p>"On Thursday, Mr. Fowler rejected the current plea offer, and the Government has formally withdrawn that offer; thus, the parties anticipate the case proceeding to trial as scheduled on April 28, 2020. Although the Court set a schedule for motions in limine in advance of trial, a motion schedule for general pretrial motions has not been set; thus, the parties will confer and submit a joint letter within the next week proposing a schedule for the Court’s consideration."</p> </blockquote> <p>Fowler was <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/21797/us-government-requests-detention-for-defendant-at-center-of-bitfinex-imbroglio-describes-master-us-workbook" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">indicted</a> last April for running a so-called "shadow bank" that was tied to Crypto Capital, a payment processing service once used by major exchanges like Bitfinex, Kraken and others at one time or another. </p>