U.S. actions against virtual currency exchanges and cybercrime facilitator

The Treasury Department has reported actions taken by OFAC in a coordinated international effort to disrupt Russian cybercrime services. FinCEN has issued a notice on Imposition of Special Measure Prohibiting the Transmittal of Funds Involving PM2BTC that identifies a Russian virtual currency exchanger associated with Russian individual Sergey Sergeevich Ivanov—as being of “primary money laundering concern” in connection with Russian illicit finance. Concurrently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning Ivanov and Cryptex—a virtual currency exchange registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and operating in Russia. The FinCEN and OFAC actions are being issued in conjunction with actions by other U.S. government agencies and international law enforcement partners to hold accountable Ivanov and the associated virtual currency services. FinCEN's notice will be effective when published in the Federal Register

According to Treasury, the U.S. Secret Service’s Cyber Investigative Section, the Netherlands Police, and the Dutch Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) have seized web domains and/or infrastructure associated with PM2BTC, UAPS, and Cryptex. The U.S. Department of State has issued a reward offer up to $10 million through its Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Ivanov. Lastly, the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia are unsealing an indictment of Ivanov and another Russian national, Timur Shakhmametov. These actions by U.S. and Dutch agencies were taken in partnership with Operation Endgame, a multinational coordinated cyber operation with European partners, to dismantle financial enablers of transnational organized cybercrime.

For identification information on Ivanov and Cryptex, see BankersOnline’s September 26, 2024, OFAC Update.