Feds Charge 2 Russians for Laundering Over $1B in Crypto for Cybercriminals

The US Justice Department has charged two Russian nationals with money laundering and aiding and abetting bank fraud, according to a release published Thursday.

Sergey Ivanov allegedly helped process payments for the illicit “carding” site known as Rescator, where cybercriminals can buy US citizens’ personally identifiable information and buy access to stolen credit and debit cards. Rescator sold the personal information of at least 70 million people tied to a 2013 data breach at an unspecified US retailer, according to the announcement.

Timur “JokerStash” Shakhmametov, the second person charged in the indictment, allegedly facilitated a similar site known as Joker’s Stash. The platform sold roughly 40 million victim payment cards a year.

Ivanov is believed to have laundered over $1.15 billion via the crypto payment services UAPS, PinPays, and PM2BTC. Federal agencies have since seized their web domains as part of the indictment. Authorities believe 32% of all tracked bitcoin sent to these platforms came from cybercriminals.

As part of the shutdown, the US Secret Service is also sanctioning Ivanov and Cryptex, a Russia-based crypto exchange it believes facilitated crypto transactions for Russian individuals sanctioned by the US, ransomware attackers, and payment card fraudsters. Two Cryptex-affiliated domains were seized: cryptex.net and cryptex.one. The crypto exchange is being accused of “advertis[ing] itself directly to cybercriminals.”

Cryptex has reportedly facilitated over $720 million in transactions for Russian cybercriminals. The exchange didn’t require “Know Your Customer” identity verification, which is required for US crypto exchanges. Without KYC, cybercriminals can set up accounts and transfer money under a fake identity (or someone else’s) and remain largely anonymous.

International authorities have seized about $7 million from Cryptex and the other payment sites in question. The US is looking for information that can help it arrest the individuals in question, and is offering up to $10 million in rewards.