Garantex co-founder Aleksej Besciokov arrested by Indian authorities: report

Indian police arrested Aleksej Bisciokov, co-founder of Guarantsex, an exchange of Russian cryptocurrency sanctioned by the United States and the European Union to facilitate money laundering.

Bisciokov, a Lithuanian national, was detained in Varkala, Kerala, under the Indian extradition law, according to state police officials, Techcrunch and Brian Krebs reported.

The arrest took place Tuesday at 4 p.m. to 4 p.m. following an arrest warrant issued by the Patiala House Court in New Delhi.

Bisciokov should be transferred to the Court on March 14. Indian authorities have not revealed whether the arrest was directly linked to its indictment in the United States, but its extradition status suggests that it does not face charges within India.

Guarantee Stop its services On March 6, shortly after, Tether froze nearly 2.5 billion USDT in Russian rubles.

DOJ’s indictment and international sanctions

The arrest of Bisciokov comes a few days after the United States Ministry of Justice Not sealed an indictment The accusation and the other alleged co-founder of Guarantx, Aleksandr Mira Serda, with a plot to commit money laundering.

Bisciokov faces additional accusations for violation of American sanctions and exploited an activity of transmission of money without license. Each accusation results in a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, with an additional five years for the violation of companies without license.

Guarantx, launched in 2019, was sanctioned By controlling foreign assets of the US Treasury in April 2022 for the treatment of illicit funds linked to hacking, ransomware, terrorism and drug trafficking. Despite sanctionsThe exchange would have facilitated more than $ 60 billion in transactions.

International REPRESSION OF GUIDEX

Bisciokov, known by the pirate alias “Proforg”, allegedly The supervision of the technical infrastructure of Guarantx and approved transactions linked to the North Korean cybercriminals and the Russian elites elected sanctions.

The American authorities claim that he and Serda knowingly bleached illicit funds and took action to hide Guarantx activitiesIncluding the daily trip of cryptocurrency wallets to circumvent detection.

As part of a coordinated international operation, the American, German, German and Finnish authorities have seized servers welcoming the operations of Guarantx, while the American secret services froze more than 26 million dollars associated with the exchange.

The police have also obtained customer copies and Guarantx accounting databases, potentially exhibiting new illicit activities.

Bisciokov was detained during his vacation with his family in India, according to sources close to the investigation. He appeared before a local court after his arrest and should be transferred to Delhi.

The US government is expected to continue its extradition to deal with accusations in the Virginia eastern district, where the indictment has been filed.

Mira Serda, a Russian national residing in the United Arab Emirates, remains in freedom. The Doj alleys that he acted as a commercial director of Garantex, managing the commercial operations of the Stock Exchange while helping to whiten illicit funds.