The former chairman of the board for the conserved Helping Other People Excel Federal Credit Union of Jackson,N.J., was indicted on bribery charges March 3.

According to court documents, Trevon Gross, who is also a pastorat Hope Cathedral in Jackson, was indicted for accepting more than$150,000 in bribes as chairman of the board. The indictment isconnected to Gross' acceptance of bribes relating to an unlawfulBitcoin exchange operated by co-defendant Anthony Murgio.

Murgio was named in a criminal complaint in July 2015 along withYuri Lebedev. The two allegedly conspired to operate anunlicensed money laundering business and an unlicensed moneytransmitting business, which exchanged millions of dollars forBitcoins for their customers.

Gross allegedly allowed the two men and others to take controlof Helping Other People Excel and assisted with the efforts inexchange for bribes. According to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney'soffice, Gross then directed Murgio to deposit funds into bankaccounts under Gross' control. Gross then used the bribe money forpersonal expenses, including personal credit card payments.

Additionally, Gross assisted in placing both Murgio and Lebedev,as well as others, onto the board of directors of Helping OtherPeople Excel and then transferred the banking operations of theunlicensed business, Coin.mx, to the credit union.

The conspirators operated Helping Other People Excel as acaptive bank for their unlawful Bitcoin exchange from 2014 untilearly 2015, according to a press release from the United StatesAttorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara.

During this time, the NCUA discovered their activities andeventually placed the credit union under conservatorship.

Gross is charged with one count of corruptly accepting paymentsas an officer of a financial institution. The charge carries amaximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

His trial is scheduled for Oct. 31.