The US Division of Justice has seized domains linked to 3 crypto exchanges which have allegedly facilitated illicit transactions price greater than $800 million in relation to Russian cash laundering operations.
The US authorities obtained courtroom authorization to grab the domains of UAPS, PM2BTC, and Cryptex. Anybody who opens these domains will see a authorities discover indicating the positioning has been seized as a result of criminality.
In a assertion printed Sept. 26, the US DOJ charged two Russian nationals for allegedly pocketing thousands and thousands from a prolific cash laundering scheme constructed on a community of cyber criminals throughout the globe.
In line with unsealed courtroom paperwork, the DOJ accused Russian nationwide Sergey Ivanov, also called “Taleon,” of working numerous cash laundering providers for cybercriminals, together with ransomware teams and darknet drug traffickers.
Ivanov allegedly created and operated Russian cost and trade providers UAPS, PinPays, and PM2BTC, to course of roughly $1.15 billion in digital asset transactions for cash laundering functions within the timeframe between July 2013 and Aug. 2024.
Cryptex, one other crypto trade tied to cash laundering, was additionally discovered to have facilitate transactions price $1.4 billion, with 31% of them linked to legal exercise.
The US authorities seized the domains “Cryptex.net” and “Cryptex.one”. These websites had been reported to supply anonymity to its customers, permitting them to register for accounts with out offering know-your-customer compliance necessities.
Much like UAPS and PM2BTC, Cryptex was marketed on to cybercriminals.
“Working with our Dutch partners, we shut down Cryptex, an illicit crypto exchange and recovered millions of dollars in cryptocurrency,” stated Deputy Lawyer Basic Lisa Monaco.
Russian nationwide Timur Shakhmametov was additionally indicted for working Joker’s Stash, one of many largest carding web sites in historical past, which offered stolen credit score and debit card data. Like Ivanov, Shakhmametov allegedly promoted Joker’s Stash web site and its stolen cost card particulars on numerous cybercrime boards.
In line with the press launch, a cryptocurrency blockchain evaluation revealed that roughly 32% of all traced Bitcoin (BTC) dealt with by these exchanges had been related to legal exercise. With greater than $158 million Bitcoin linked to fraud, over $8.8 million was used for ransomware funds, and round $4.7 million originated from darknet drug markets.
Along with the DOJ, The U.S. Treasury has additionally sanctioned Ivanov and Cryptex. In the meantime, the State Division supplied a $11 million reward for data resulting in the arrest of these concerned within the Ivanov or Joker’s Stash operations.