Benzinga -
- The U.S. Treasury Department designated cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato Ltd as a "primary money laundering concern" under a section of the USA Patriot Act for allegedly laundering illicit funds for ransomware actors based in Russia.
- This type of action is rarely used for some of the most egregious money laundering cases. It is the first of its kind, specifically under new authorities, to combat Russian illicit finance.
- Nearly 50% of all known Bitzlato transactions during that time involved Russian illicit finance or otherwise risky sources.
- The law is used to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
- Hong Kong-based Bitzlato exchanged more than $700 million in cryptocurrency with Hydra Market, a darknet marketplace that was the largest in the world before it was shut down in April 2022, the U.S. Justice Department said.
- Bitzlato also received more than $15 million of ransomware proceeds, the Justice Department said.
- Anatoly Legkodymov, the founder and majority owner of Bitzlato, was arrested Tuesday night in Miami, Wall Street Journal reported.
- The report added that along with the U.S. action, French authorities had taken their enforcement steps, including closing Bitzlato's digital infrastructure and seizing its cryptocurrency.
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