Timur Shakhmametov and Sergey Ivanov are accused of laundering money through the sale of stolen cards and unlawful services.
The US Justice Department on Thursday announced a crackdown on Russian money laundering operations with an estimated $800m impact.
The agency claimed to have taken domains connected to cryptocurrency exchanges used for money laundering and charged two Russian nationals. It shows an attempt to break up the financial networks that support geopolitical influence and cybercrime.
Two Russian Nationals Charged in Connection with Operating Billion Dollar Money Laundering Services
— Criminal Division (@DOJCrimDiv) September 26, 2024
Justice Department Seizes Web Domains for Multiple Illicit Crypto Exchanges
🔗: https://t.co/GgBIR6Jeo1 pic.twitter.com/SRqOlejCs4
DOJ Charges Russian Cybercriminals “Taleon” and “JokerStash” with Alleged Laundering Scheme
“Taleon,” also known as Sergey Ivanov, is charged with bank fraud and money laundering. He allegedly processed more than $1.15 billion in transactions through his operations, which included services like PM2BTC, PinPays, and UAPS. The DOJ claims that a sizable amount of these transactions resulted from illegal activity. The amount of the transactions that are associated with criminal activity would be approximately $368 million.
In a similar vein, Timur Shakhmametov, also known as “JokerStash,” is charged with operating the carding website Joker’s Stash, which allegedly made over $1 billion in profits by selling millions of stolen credit card numbers.
US Secret Service Shuts Down Cryptex Crypto Platform
Domains linked to Cryptex, another platform for money laundering, were also seized by the US Secret Service. Over $1.4 billion in transactions were found through Cryptex, with a sizable portion of those funds being connected to illegal proceeds. This included $441 million linked to ransomware payments and fraud.
International law enforcement was involved in these actions, which were not unilateral. Several European agencies, including the Netherlands Police, assisted by taking down servers associated with PM2BTC and Cryptex.
DOJ’s Coordinated Effort Targets Cyber Financial Crimes
With a strong message to stop illegal financial flows, the Justice Department’s actions constitute a significant offensive against financial crimes made possible by cyberspace. Disrupting criminal networks and preserving global financial integrity are the goals of this strategy, which involves several government agencies and foreign partners.
Earlier this year, 13 companies and two individuals were sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for allegedly developing cryptocurrency services that could help Russian citizens evade international sanctions.
The goal of OFAC’s actions was to limit Russia’s access to the global financial system in the context of its conflict with Ukraine.