- Operator of sanctioned Russian crypto exchange Garantex arrested in India while vacationing with family.
- Garantex was recently targeted by international law enforcement, with nearly $28 million in crypto assets frozen.
- The exchange allegedly facilitated money laundering for cybercriminals, including North Korean Hackers and Russian sanctions evaders.
Lithuanian national and Russian resident Aleksej Besciokov, 46, was arrested in the southern Indian state of Kerala on Tuesday while vacationing with his family, according to reports from Techcrunch and KrebsonSecurity. Besciokov is allegedly one of the operators of Garantex, a Russian cryptocurrency exchange that was sanctioned in 2022 for money laundering activities.
The arrest follows last week’s coordinated seizure of Garantex’s domains and servers by law enforcement agencies from the United States, Germany, and Finland. During the operation, authorities froze approximately $28 million in cryptocurrency associated with the exchange, with assistance from stablecoin issuer Tether.
Garantex had been in the crosshairs of the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) since 2022, when it was sanctioned for knowingly facilitating money laundering for various criminal enterprises. These included Ransomware operations such as Conti and Black Basta, as well as darknet marketplaces like Hydra, which was the world’s largest illicit online marketplace until its shutdown in 2022.
U.S. prosecutors have charged Besciokov and another Garantex operator, 40-year-old Russian national Aleksandr Mira Serda, with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Serda is reportedly a resident of the United Arab Emirates. Besciokov currently appears on the Most Wanted list of the U.S. Secret Service.
Beyond facilitating transactions for cybercriminals, Garantex allegedly played a significant role in Russian sanctions evasion. The exchange has been linked to premium sanctions evasion services like the TGR Group, which reportedly provides financial workarounds for Russian oligarchs facing international restrictions.
The exchange has also allegedly processed funds for North Korea‘s Lazarus Group, the state-sponsored Hacking operation believed responsible for last month’s massive $1.5 billion theft from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit.
Neither Kerala police officials nor the U.S. Department of Justice responded to requests for comment regarding Besciokov’s reported arrest, according to the original reporting.
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