US arrests Russian crypto boss for running criminal ‘safe haven’ DW 1/18/2023

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US authorities announced on Wednesday that they have arrested Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange owner Bitzlato for allegedly laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for criminals on the platform.

Anatoly Legkodymov is a 40-year-old Russian national living in China. He was arrested in Miami and is due in court for his first hearing later Wednesday.

“Today the Department of Justice delivered a massive blow to the cryptocurrency ecosystem,” U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said at a press conference, calling Bitzlato a “safe haven” for the crime.

“Overnight, the department worked with key partners here and abroad to disrupt Bitzlato, the China-based money laundering engine that was fueling a high-tech cryptocurrency axis,” she said. said, adding that a joint operation with French, Cypriot, Portuguese and Spanish authorities had also enabled them to shut down Bitzlato’s website.

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Legkodymov wrote that the users were “known to be scammers”

Legkodymov is accused of failing to implement proper security measures needed to prevent money laundering and other crimes on cryptocurrency platforms.

Bitzlato’s main client was Hydra, a major darknet market shut down by US and German authorities last year. Users were able to hand over some $700 million for narcotics, stolen credit card information and fake IDs, the US Department of Justice said.

According to court documents, Legkodymov allegedly wrote in a 2019 internal Bitzlato chat that he knew many of the platform’s users were “known to be scammers.”

Cryptocurrency values ​​have fallen over the past year as an increasing number of platforms have been accused of being used for criminal activity or fraudulent purposes.

es/wmr (AP, AFP, Reuters)

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