A 46-year-old Lithuanian citizen Alexei Beschokov, who graduated from Moscow State University, was arrested in India at the request of the United States. He is suspected of money laundering, conspiracy to violate sanctions, and conducting business without a license.
Controversies in the cryptocurrency market
According to estimates, the detained person is one of the administrators of the Garantex crypto exchange, which stopped issuing cryptocurrency to Russian users. More than 2.5 billion rubles have been frozen in his accounts.
Alexey Beschokov, "proforg", "iram". Photo: USA. Secret Service.
According to the investigation, Beschokov is currently being held in Delhi and may soon be extradited to the US. Cybersecurity expert and former journalist for The Washington Post, Brian Krebs, reported that Indian law enforcement agencies arrested Beschokov while he was vacationing with his family on the Indian coast.
Investigations against the Garantex exchange
Until now, the search for the crypto exchange's administrators has been carried out in "sleep" mode. However, after the US, German and Finnish special services conducted a joint operation on March 7 and froze the exchange, the investigation intensified.
Beschokov, who graduated from the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics at Moscow State University in 2002, was arrested in February by a Virginia district court. He is suspected of conspiring with a Russian resident of the UAE, Alexander Mira Ser, to launder money. According to court documents, the exchange is located in Moscow.
According to the US Treasury Department, Beschokov was the chief technical administrator of Garantex, responsible for verifying and approving transactions.
EU restrictions
On February 24, the European Union announced new sanctions against the Garantex crypto exchange. It noted that the platform has close ties to Russian banks on the EU "blacklist". In particular, Garantex users can manage funds using Sberbank, T-Bank and Alfa-bank cards.
Arrests in the cryptocurrency world
Recently, the US government has been stepping up the fight against cryptocurrency fraud. In December 2023, Dmitry Vasiliev, the former owner of the Wex crypto exchange, was arrested in Poland at the request of the US. From $ 500 million to $ 1 billion was stolen through this exchange.
Also, in October 2023, Alexey Andryunin, the head of the Gotbit cryptocurrency company, was arrested in Portugal.
Illegal operations in the cryptocurrency world and attempts to evade sanctions remain in the focus of attention of international governments. The measures taken against Garantex and other crypto exchanges are aimed at increasing transparency in the cryptocurrency market.
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