On 17 November, FSB officers in Saint Petersburg conducted a search in the Senator business centre, where the office of an unnamed cryptocurrency exchange is located. Local media, citing witnesses, reported this.
According to officials, the visit by the security forces occurred as part of a criminal case into the cashing out of cryptocurrency totaling about 1.5 billion rubles. The case allegedly concerns Article 171 of the Russian Criminal Code, ‘Illegal Entrepreneurship’.
Similar measures in connection with the same case are taking place in Moscow, according to reports.
During the search, tenants’ access to the business centre was blocked.
The agency has not issued an official statement on this.
In October, the FSB published a draft order expanding the powers of the agency’s officers, which would also allow them to direct requests to operators of information systems that issue digital financial assets.
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