So, Indian police decided to spice up their day by arresting Aleksej Besciokov, the co-founder of Garantex. You know, that Russian cryptocurrency exchange that’s been sanctioned by the U.S. and the EU for being a little too cozy with money laundering. 🕵️♂️
Besciokov, a Lithuanian national (because of course he is), was picked up in Varkala, Kerala. Apparently, he was just chilling there, probably sipping on a coconut, when the cops showed up with an arrest warrant from the Patiala House Court in New Delhi. 🥥🚔
The arrest went down at 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday. Now, Besciokov is expected to be transferred to the court on March 14. Indian authorities haven’t said if this is directly linked to his U.S. indictment, but his extradition status suggests he’s not exactly in the clear. 🚨
Oh, and Garantex? They shut down their services on March 6, right after Tether froze nearly 2.5 billion USDT in Russian rubles. Talk about bad timing. 💸
DOJ indictment and international sanctions
Besciokov’s arrest comes just days after the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging him and Garantex’s other alleged co-founder, Aleksandr Mira Serda, with conspiracy to commit money laundering. 🕵️♂️
Besciokov is also facing additional charges for violating U.S. sanctions and operating an unlicensed money transmission business. Each charge could land him 20 years in the slammer, with an extra five years for the unlicensed business violation. 🚓
Garantex, which launched in 2019, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in April 2022 for processing illicit funds linked to hacking, ransomware, terrorism, and drug trafficking. Despite the sanctions, the exchange reportedly facilitated over $60 billion in transactions. 💰
International crackdown on Garantex
Besciokov, known by the hacker alias “proforg,” allegedly oversaw Garantex’s technical infrastructure and approved transactions linked to North Korean cybercriminals and Russian elites evading sanctions. 🕵️♂️
U.S. authorities claim he and Serda knowingly laundered illicit funds and took steps to conceal Garantex’s activities, including moving operational cryptocurrency wallets daily to bypass detection. 🕵️♂️
As part of a coordinated international operation, U.S., German, and Finnish authorities seized servers hosting Garantex’s operations, while the U.S. Secret Service froze over $26 million associated with the exchange. 🕵️♂️
Law enforcement also obtained copies of Garantex’s customer and accounting databases, potentially exposing further illicit activities. 🕵️♂️
Besciokov was detained while vacationing with his family in India, according to sources close to the investigation. He appeared before a local court after his arrest and is set to be transferred to Delhi. 🕵️♂️
The U.S. government is expected to pursue his extradition to face charges in the Eastern District of Virginia, where the indictment was filed. 🕵️♂️
Mira Serda, a Russian national residing in the United Arab Emirates, remains at large. The DOJ alleges he acted as Garantex’s chief commercial officer, managing the exchange’s business operations while assisting in laundering illicit funds. 🕵️♂️
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2025-03-12 21:45