The US Division of Justice (DOJ) indicted Besciokov and his co-founder, Aleksandr Mira Serda, on March 7. Authorities accuse them of violating US sanctions, working an unlicensed cash switch enterprise, and laundering cash by way of the change. The US is now in search of Besciokov’s extradition to Virginia for trial.
In a coordinated transfer, the US Secret Service, together with Germany and Finland, seized three Garantex domains and froze $28 million in cryptocurrency. Authorities declare Besciokov, as Garantex’s technical administrator, knowingly processed transactions linked to cybercriminals, together with North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
Garantex, a Russian cryptocurrency exchange, has been underneath US and EU sanctions since 2022. It’s accused of dealing with illicit funds tied to hackers, drug traffickers, and different criminals. The DOJ estimates the change processed at the very least $96 billion in transactions, together with tons of of tens of millions linked to unlawful actions.
On March 10, Garantex invited shoppers to a gathering in Moscow, however its future stays unsure. The change has not resumed regular operations.
Besciokov’s arrest is a part of a broader crackdown on crypto exchanges. A number of founders, together with these of FTX, BTC-e, and Thodex, have additionally confronted authorized motion.