The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that it has seized domains linked to three cryptocurrency exchanges accused of funneling more than $800 million in illegal transactions in a coordinated crackdown on Russian money laundering.
The DOJ, in cooperation with the Department of the Treasury, the Secret Service and international law enforcement partners, announced the indictment against Sergei Ivanov, a Russian national.
Ivanov, also known as “Talion”, is accused of operating a number of money-laundering services for cybercriminals, including ransomware groups and dark drug dealers.
U.S. authorities have charged Russian national Timur Shakhmametov, or “JokerStash,” with running Joker's Stash, one of the largest card sites in history, and selling stolen payment card information.
Ivanov reportedly operates crypto exchanges such as UAPS, PinPays, and PM2BTC, which have processed around $1.15 billion worth of digital asset transactions.
A blockchain analysis conducted by authorities found that 32 percent of the bitcoin handled by the exchange was linked to criminal activity, including more than $158 million in fraud and more than $8.8 million in ransomware payments.
In conjunction with the U.S. action, Dutch authorities seized servers hosting PM2BTC and Cryptex and seized more than $7 million in crypto, according to the Department of Justice.
Cryptex, another crypto exchange linked to money laundering, facilitated an estimated $1.4 billion in transactions, 31% of which were related to criminal conduct, according to the indictment.
The US Secret Service has obtained court permission to seize the domains of UAPS, PM2BTC and Cryptex. Visitors to the sites will now see a government notice indicating what they are looking for.
“Today's action underscores the Department's ongoing disruption of malicious cyber actors and the criminal ecosystem,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. “The two Russians indicted today are said to have pocketed millions of dollars in illegal money laundering.”
Ivanov is charged with one count each of providing payment processing services to the carding website Rescator and one count each of fraud and aiding and abetting the abette bank fraud. He was also charged with one count of conspiracy to embezzle proceeds from Joker's stash.
The US Treasury has also sanctioned Ivanov and Cryptex, and the State Department has offered a reward of up to $11 million for information leading to the arrest of those involved.
Editor's Note: Updates the total amount allegedly transferred in illegal transactions.
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