Co-owner of sanctioned Suex to defend business reputation in U.S. court
Co-owner of the U.S.-sanctioned bitcoin exchange Suex, Yegor Petukhovsky, denied the company’s involvement in illicit activity and said he intends to defend his position in court.
“Neither I nor any business connected with me has ever engaged in any illegal activity. I am firmly determined to defend my name in court in the United States of America,” he wrote on Facebook.
Petukhovsky also said that during the court proceedings he would step down as a shareholder of Chatex, and suspend his duties as an employee of Chatex.
“Understanding that the case could take several months, during which any clients, partners, shareholders or other interested parties may be harmed, I decided to step down as a shareholder of the Chatex company, and suspend my activities as an employee of Chatex,” he added.
On September 21, the U.S. Treasury added the legal entities and the site of the Suex exchange, as well as 25 addresses linked to it across the Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether networks, to the sanctions list.
The agency asserts that funds passed through the platform for operators of at least eight ransomware programs, scam projects, darknet marketplaces and the now-defunct BTC-e exchange.
Analytical company Chainalysis found that among other things Suex processed WEX exchange transactions worth several million dollars.
Analysts involved in the investigation estimated that up to 40% of Suex’s turnover came from assets tied to cybercriminals.
According to Elliptic, since 2018 Suex has processed cryptocurrency transactions totaling at least $934 million, More than $370 million of them were linked to illicit activity.
Earlier, Vasily Zhabikin, another co-founder of the exchange, also denied any illegal activity by the company.
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