US Officials Seize $ 6.1 Million In Crypto From Ransomware Players, Add Chatex To Sanctions List

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The United States Department of the Treasury has announced that it will impose sanctions on the Chatex cryptocurrency exchange and its support network for allegedly facilitating transactions for ransomware players.

In an advisory update released Nov. 8, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, added Chatex as well as IZIBITS OU, Chatextech SIA and Hightrade Finance to its list of U.S. government sanctioned entities. . The department claimed Chatex had “direct ties” to Czech and Russian firm Suex OTC, which it sanctioned in September.

According to OFAC, Chatex has helped facilitate transactions for ransomware groups, with more than half of the exchange’s transactions “traced to illicit or high-risk activity such as darknet markets, high-risk exchanges and ransomware ”. The addition of the exchange to the sanctions list follows the suspension by the Latvian and Estonian authorities of the operations of Chatextech and the revocation of the license of IZIBITS OU, respectively.

“Shameless virtual currency exchanges like Chatex are critical to the profitability of ransomware activities, especially in laundering and cashing the proceeds for criminals,” the department said. “The Treasury will continue to use all available authorities to disrupt malicious cyber actors, block ill-gotten proceeds of crime, and deter further action against the American people.”

In the same announcement, OFAC alleged that Ukrainian national Yaroslav Vasinskyi and Russian national Yevgeniy Polyanin participated in ransomware attacks against several US government entities as well as numerous private sector actors. As part of the actions of the Treasury Department, residents of the United States are prohibited from engaging in transactions with Vasinskyi, Polyanin, Chatex and all associated entities, or they may themselves be subject to action. execution or sanctions.

The State Department has announced that it will offer a reward of $ 10 million for any information that can locate anyone in a “key leadership position” in the Sodinokibi / REvil ransomware group. In addition, it would offer a reward of $ 5 million leading to the arrest or conviction of anyone attempting to launch a major ransomware attack.

Related: The Bitcoin Registry As A Secret Weapon In The Ransomware War

At a press conference today, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department indicted Vasinsky in August for his alleged role in personal computer hacking as well as conspiracy with a view to committing money laundering by demanding payment for ransomware attacks. According to the attorney general, Polish authorities arrested Vasinsky in October and he is awaiting his extradition to the United States. Additionally, the Justice Department announced a similar indictment against Polyanin, seizing $ 6.1 million in crypto out of 3,000 ransomware attacks it is believed to be responsible for.

“For the second time in five months, we have announced the seizure of the digital product of ransomware deployed by a transnational criminal group,” Garland said. “This won’t be the last time – the US government will continue to aggressively pursue the entire ransomware ecosystem and increase our country’s resilience to cyber threats.”

Under President Joe Biden, tackling ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure in the United States has been a major issue. In June, a government task force seized more than $ 2 million in crypto used to pay ransom following an attack on the Colonial Pipeline system.

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