The Justice Department has announced coordinated actions with the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, and other federal and international law enforcement partners to address Russian money laundering operations. These efforts include unsealing an indictment against a Russian national for his role in operating multiple money laundering services for cybercriminals and seizing websites linked to three illicit cryptocurrency exchanges.
“Today's actions highlight the Department’s continued disruption of malicious cyber actors and their criminal ecosystem,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “The two Russian nationals charged today allegedly pocketed millions of dollars from prolific money laundering and fueled a network of cyber criminals around the world, with Ivanov allegedly facilitating darknet drug traffickers and ransomware operators. Working with our Dutch partners, we shut down Cryptex, an illicit crypto exchange, and recovered millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.”
U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia added, “Every step cybercriminals take in their pursuit of money leaves another track that leads us to their doorstep. And if you follow them on their path of greed, they will lead us to you. We will not stop because while domains can always be seized, justice is unyielding.”
Assistant Director Brian Lambert of the U.S. Secret Service commented, “The Secret Service is relentless in pursuing those engaged in criminal activity. I thank our domestic and foreign partners for their efforts on this case as we continue our work bringing to justice those engaged in transnational criminal activity.”
Court documents unsealed today reveal that Sergey Ivanov, also known as “Taleon” among other aliases, faces charges including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Ivanov is accused of providing payment processing support to the carding website Rescator and laundering proceeds from Joker’s Stash over nearly two decades.
Ivanov allegedly operated several Russian payment and exchange services—UAPS, PinPays, and PM2BTC—which provided direct money transfer and laundering services to criminals. Between July 12, 2013, and August 10 (year unspecified), transactions involving these services amounted to approximately $1.15 billion in value.
Another individual charged is Timur Shakhmametov, known online as “JokerStash” or “Vega.” He faces charges related to operating Joker’s Stash—a carding website—and laundering its proceeds.
Separately, a seizure order was executed against two domains supporting Cryptex.net by the U.S. Secret Service. This cryptocurrency exchange offered anonymity by allowing users to register without know-your-customer compliance requirements.
Blockchain analytics revealed that bitcoin transactions associated with Cryptex amounted to approximately $1.4 billion at transaction time values. About 31% of this bitcoin originated from addresses tied to criminal conduct.
As part of these actions, servers hosting PM2BTC and Cryptex were seized by Dutch authorities along with over $7 million worth of cryptocurrency.
Other related measures included reward offers up to $11 million by the U.S. Department of State for information leading to arrests or convictions related to these operations; FinCEN's identification of PM2BTC as a primary money laundering concern; OFAC sanctions against Cryptex and Ivanov.
The investigation involves multiple agencies including the U.S. Secret Service Cyber Investigative Section along with international cooperation from law enforcement entities across Europe.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe Bedell is prosecuting Ivanov's case while Trial Attorney Jeff Pearlman and Senior Counsel Jessica Peck handle investigations into Cryptex alongside Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Sullivan from Maryland.