US trains Ukraine to detect sanctions evasion through cryptocurrencies

Ukrainian law enforcement officials from September 18 to 21 took part in the second stage of online training focused on tracking cryptocurrencies to combat sanctions evasion.

The organizers of the training were the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, the Netherlands’ Financial Intelligence and Investigation Service, and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs of the United Kingdom, with the participation of analytics firms CipherTrace and BlockTrace.

As part of the program, about 40 Ukrainian law enforcement officers from the cyber police, БЭБ, СБУ, НАБУ and ГБР studied tools to identify fraudulent cryptocurrency transactions and money laundering.

Upon completing the training and passing the exam, participants earned accreditation as certified cryptocurrency-tracking examiners.

The IRS Criminal Investigation Division is currently conducting 30 investigations related to sanctions evasion. In cooperation with OFAC, work is underway to freeze the assets of those involved.

In May, the IRS and Chainalysis announced collaboration with Ukraine to track sanctions evasion by Russians using cryptocurrencies.