Three Russians face US money laundering charges over mixing services: Department of Justice

Three Russian nationals linked to the operation of sanctioned cryptocurrency mixing services Blender.io and Sinbad.io have been indicted on money laundering by a federal grand jury in Georgia, the US Department of Justice said in a statement. Statement on Friday.

Roman Vitalievich Ostapenko and Alexander Evgenievich Oleinik were arrested last month and face money laundering charges. A third person linked to the service’s operations, Anton Viatslavovich Tarasov, remains at large, the Justice Ministry said.

Authorities from multiple jurisdictions have already confiscated and dismantled the computer equipment behind the services. The US Treasury previously sanctioned Blender.io for helping hide cryptocurrency proceeds from cyber thefts conducted by North Korean hackers. The move was a sign of action by the Treasury Department First sanctions against crypto mixera service that aims to anonymize transactions and erase the public trace of digital assets.

“According to the indictment, the defendants operated cryptocurrency ‘mixers’ that served as a safe haven for the laundering of criminally derived funds, including the proceeds of ransomware and wire fraud,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent S. Whipple, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. , in a statement. “By operating these alleged mixers, the defendants made it easier for state-sponsored hacking groups and other cybercriminals to profit from crimes that endanger public safety and national security.”

Read more: Cryptocurrency mixing platform has been sanctioned by the US Treasury over North Korea allegations, with the FBI, Dutch and Finnish police seizing the website.

The prosecution of cryptocurrency mixing services – controversial companies that represent the sector’s exposure to criminal use and advocacy for financial privacy – has been a point of contention between US policymakers and members of Congress.

In the most famous case, the Tornado Cash Chase, the Treasury Department The sanctions were lifted in November By a federal appeals court, which ruled that the technology underlying these services could not be targeted in this way. However, the government is still pursuing criminal prosecutions of Tornado Cash’s founders.

Blender.io ran from 2018 to 2022 before authorities took it down It was quickly replaced by Sinbad.ioSimilar sanctions were imposed on it by the Treasury Department.