Officers from the Economic Crime Department of the St. Petersburg police are conducting searches at 80 locations linked to a network of illegal cryptocurrency exchanges. This was reported by 47news, citing sources.
According to the publication, investigative actions in the city and region commenced at 6:00 AM on October 2, under the direction of Russian Interior Ministry officials from Moscow. In total, hundreds of operatives from the Economic Crime Department and the Criminal Investigation Department are participating in the raids.
Journalists discovered that the searches are part of an investigation opened on October 1 by the Moscow Investigative Committee into illegal banking activities, improper circulation of payment means, and the organization of a criminal community. The suspects allegedly provided services for laundering cryptocurrencies obtained through criminal means.
According to the investigation, the network comprised 70 individuals. Media reports indicate that the primary focus of law enforcement is a house in the village of Lisiy Nos in the Primorsky district of St. Petersburg, where, according to the Interior Ministry, the scheme’s organizer resides.
Searches are also being conducted at the clients of the exchanges. One client allegedly cashed out $50,000 through the suspects.
As the investigation progresses, additional charges will be brought against the detainees, including unauthorized access to computer information and violation of rules for storing, processing, or transmitting such information, writes the publication, citing a Moscow Investigative Committee official.
Journalists also mentioned that the scheme is linked to “illegal influence on significant objects of Russia’s critical infrastructure.”
A criminal case has been opened against the creators of the anonymous payment system UAPS, the cryptocurrency exchange Cryptex, and 33 online exchanges. This was reported by the press service of the Russian Investigative Committee.
According to the agency, since 2013, accomplices have been engaged in illegal activities involving currency exchange, cryptocurrency exchange, cash delivery and receipt, and the sale of bank cards and personal accounts. Their main clients were various cybercriminals.
According to law enforcement calculations, in 2023, the volume of operations on illegal services exceeded 112 billion rubles, and the criminal income of the figures amounted to 3.7 billion rubles.
The scale of the operation turned out to be much broader — 148 searches were conducted in 14 regions of Russia. 96 individuals have been detained and will be transported to Moscow for further investigation.
At the end of September, U.S. authorities added the Cryptex exchange, the PM2BTC exchanger, and their alleged administrator, Russian Sergey Ivanov, to the sanctions list.
Earlier, police closed a bitcoin exchange in “Moscow City” with a turnover of 200 million rubles.