Another BTC-e Case Figure Charged in the US

The US Department of Justice has charged Alexander Klimenko, a Belarusian and Cypriot national and alleged co-owner of the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, with conspiracy to launder money and operating an unlicensed financial business.

According to investigators, from 2011 to July 2017, Klimenko controlled the BTC-e exchange alongside Alexander Vinnik and other accomplices. He is also purportedly linked to the technology company Soft-FX and the forex broker FXOpen. Belarusian media, among others, have reported on Klimenko’s connections to these two entities.

The prosecution claims that BTC-e’s servers were leased and maintained by Soft-FX and Klimenko in particular. The BTC-e exchange operated without a license and lacked AML/KYC procedures, making it a hub for various illegal activities, the Justice Department emphasized.

The 42-year-old Klimenko was detained in Latvia on December 21, 2023, at the request of US authorities. He was recently extradited to the US and arrested.

He faces up to 25 years in prison.

Previously, Sergei Mayzus, owner of the British firm Mayzus Financial Services (MFS), detailed Klimenko’s and his companies’ alleged involvement in a money laundering scheme through the BTC-e exchange:

“Vinnik received payments from BTC-e’s clean clients through MFS to the account of the affiliated company Always Efficient. From there, he made payments to clients, and the daily balance was transferred to the account of Canton Business Corporation in MoneyPolo. Subsequently, these funds were moved to the account of XP Solutions in Moscow’s Alfa-Bank, and then to the account of FXOpen.”

According to Mayzus, another company linked to Vinnik, Gem Invest, was used to receive payments for the cryptocurrency exchange xBTCe, which was owned by Klimenko. Denis Peganov is the head of xBTCe and also the director of FXOpen and XP Solutions.

The cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e collapsed on July 25, 2017, after its creators were accused of laundering at least $4 billion. On the same day, US law enforcement arrested Alexander Vinnik in Greece.

In 2020, the Russian was extradited to France, where he was later sentenced to five years in prison and fined €100,000 for money laundering.

In August 2022, Vinnik was transferred to the US, where he faces up to 55 years in prison. His next court hearing is scheduled for September 2024.