India arrests Russian resident wanted by US over $152 billion cryptocurrency money-laundering scheme
US authorities have alleged that the Garantex cryptocurrency exchange had been used to process at least $152.5 billion in funds since 2019, which also allowed international criminal organisations to launder money. (Reuters: Dado Ruvic)
In short:
Indian intelligence authorities have arrested a Russian resident the US Justice Department has accused of money laundering.
US law enforcement says Aleksej Besciokov and another Russian national operated a $152.5 billion cryptocurrency exchange that helped criminal entities like terrorist organisations to launder funds.
What's next?
After Mr Besciokov 's arrest in the Indian state of Kerala, Washington is expected to pursue his extradition to the US.
India's top crime fighting bureau says its authorities have arrested a cryptocurrency exchange administrator accused by the United States of money laundering conspiracy and violating sanctions.
The US, Germany and Finland took down the online infrastructure used by the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, the US Justice Department said in a statement last week, adding that two administrators of the exchange were charged.
One of those administrators was 46-year-old Aleksej Besciokov, a Russian resident and Lithuanian national who was charged with money laundering and also faced accusations of violating sanctions and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, the Justice Department said on Friday.
The US agency also said that another 40-year-old Russian national and United Arab Emirates resident, Aleksandr Mira Serda, was also charged with money laundering and conspiracy.
A domain landing page seized by the US Justice Department and Secret Service amid allegations the site was facilitating money laundering. (Supplied: US Justice Department)
"According to court documents, between 2019 and 2025, Besciokov and Mira Serda controlled and operated Garantex," the US Justice Department said in the statement last week.
"Garantex received hundreds of millions in criminal proceeds and was used to facilitate various crimes, including hacking, ransomware, terrorism, and drug trafficking, often with substantial impact to US victims.
"According to the indictment, Besciokov and Mira Serda knew that criminal proceeds were being laundered through Garantex and took steps to conceal the facilitation of illegal activities on its platform.
"Since April 2019, Garantex has processed at least $US96 billion ($152.5 billion) in cryptocurrency transactions."
Mr Besciokov was arrested in the southern Indian state of Kerala on Wednesday, India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said, adding that he was wanted by US authorities.
The CBI said that at Washington's request, India's foreign ministry had a provisional arrest warrant issued.
It also said that Mr Besciokov was planning to flee India, but it was not immediately clear why he was in the country. Washington is expected to pursue Mr Besciokov's extradition.
"I can confirm Aleksej Besciokov, one of the administrators of Garantex, was arrested in India at the request of the United States," a US Justice Department spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday local time.
The department also said last week that on March 6, US law enforcement including the country's Secret Service seized three website domains that were being used to support Garantex's operations.
"The seizure of these domains will prevent these sites from being used for money laundering and additional crimes," the department's statement said.
"Individuals visiting those sites now will see a message indicating that the site has been seized by law enforcement.
"US law authorities have separately obtained earlier copies of Garantex's servers, including customer and accounting databases. In addition, US law enforcement has also frozen over $26 million in funds used to facilitate Garantex's money laundering activities."
The US Justice Department says charges of conspiracy and money laundering carry maximum jail term penalties of 20 years, while the charge of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business carries a maximum five-year jail term.
Reuters