Police Officer Accused of Extorting WEX ‘Red Admin’ Placed on International Wanted List

Former employee of the BSTM of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, part of the Department ‘K’, Georgy Satyukov, and his ex-colleague Dmitry Sokolov have been arrested in absentia and placed on an international wanted list. They are accused of receiving a bribe amounting to 4.9 billion rubles in cryptocurrencies from WEX exchange system administrator Alexey Bilyuchenko (Ivanov), reports Kommersant.

According to investigation materials, the accomplices coerced Bilyuchenko into accepting their “protection” under threats. In exchange for monetary compensation, they promised “patronage” in his embezzlement case.

From March 2019 to October 2021, through Sokolov as an intermediary, at least 2119.5265569864 BTC and 10,016 ETC, equivalent to approximately 4.9 billion rubles, were transferred to wallets controlled by Satyukov.

The alleged corruption came to light thanks to a pre-trial cooperation agreement between Bilyuchenko and the First Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia, Anatoly Razinkin. The “Red Admin” admitted guilt in the embezzlement of 3.1 billion rubles of WEX assets.

During the trial, he claimed he did not intend to appropriate the funds but was merely trying to hide them from law enforcement — besides BSTM officers, FSB operatives and other “fixers” allegedly also sought the funds. According to Bilyuchenko, he transferred up to $5 million a month to the police alone.

Currently, Satyukov, accused of bribery, and his accomplice Sokolov are hiding abroad. They are believed to be in Dubai, where Sokolov reportedly owns an apartment in the Burj Khalifa. Meanwhile, Satyukov and his relatives have been found to own six large real estate properties, including a 200-square-meter apartment in the Nezhinsky Ark residential complex in Moscow, as well as about 13 accounts in various banks.

In September 2023, the Meshchansky District Court sentenced Bilyuchenko to 3.5 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 rubles. The decision was upheld and came into legal force.

The owner of the official operator of WEX — the Singaporean company World Exchange Services — Igor Pravdin has filed a new lawsuit against Bilyuchenko in the Savelovsky District Court of Moscow, seeking to recover several additional billion rubles.