U.S. charges 2 Russians with global crypto money laundering and sanctions evasion

The U.S. Justice Department (DoJ) has charged two Russians, Sergey Ivanov and Timur Shakhmametov, with using crypto to launder money and also evade sanctions.

These actions involved an indictment and the seizure of many illicit crypto exchanges. Per the papers, Ivanov and Shakhmametov stole millions from laundering for cybercriminals worldwide.

They helped move money for drug dealers on the darknet, ransomware gangs, and fraudsters. The U.S. government says Ivanov, also known as “Taleon,” moved around $1.15 billion in crypto.

Shakhmametov, who is “JokerStash,” ran a huge carding market selling data from millions of stolen credit cards.

U.S. cracks down on illegal crypto exchanges

The authorities shut down three major crypto exchanges: UAPS, PinPays, and Cryptex. 

Cryptex was popular among cybercriminals because it gave users complete anonymity.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said this operation is part of the government’s “ongoing efforts to disrupt cybercrime.” She added that:

“The two Russians charged today made millions from money laundering and helped a network of cybercriminals across the globe.”

Cryptex.net and Cryptex.one, which were seized by the Secret Service, processed over 62,586 crypto transactions, worth about $1.4 billion. 

Around 31% of this came from criminals. The government also took control of servers that hosted PM2BTC and Cryptex, with Dutch authorities stepping in to shut them down and seize over $7 million.

Ivanov allegedly used these exchanges’ services specifically for criminals on Russian-speaking forums. 

One of them included UAPS, which alone handled over $158 million from fraud, $8.8 million from ransomware, and $4.7 million from darknet drug sales.

Ivanov is charged with conspiracy to commit and aiding and abetting bank fraud for his role in the Rescator carding website.

He’s also facing conspiracy to commit money laundering for handling the proceeds from Joker’s Stash. Rescator sold stolen credit card data from banks and personal information of Americans.

The site allegedly offered data from up to 40 million payment cards and personal data of about 70 million people. 

The DoJ says that this data came from a major U.S. retailer that was hacked in 2013, costing the victim at least $202 million.

U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber stressed that the government will continue to pursue justice for cybercrime victims, saying:

“Every step cybercriminals take in their pursuit of money leaves another track that leads us to their doorstep.”

Meanwhile, the Department of the Treasury has taken more steps, with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) labeling PM2BTC as a “primary money laundering concern.”