Aliaksandr Klimenka, a Belarusian and Cypriot nationwide, has been indicted within the U.S. for his involvement in a world cybercrime cash laundering operation.
The U.S. Division of Justice announcement says that Klimenka managed the unlicensed virtual forex alternate BTC-e, the era services and products corporate Cushy-FX, and the monetary corporate FX Open.
The indictment alleges that Klimenka, thru those corporations, facilitated transactions connected to more than a few cybercrimes, together with ransomware, id robbery, illicit substance trafficking, scams, and hacking.
BTC-e was once a cryptocurrency buying and selling platform that basically served the Russian marketplace, with U.S. legislation enforcement seizing it in 2017 following the arrest of its proprietor, Alexander Vinnik, in Greece.
The U.S. DoJ alleged again then that the platform was once used to launder price range stolen all the way through the hack of Eastern crypto alternate platform Mt. Gox, in addition to ransom bills for the Locky, Cerber, NotPetya, WannaCry, and Spora ransomware operations.
The platform had a notable presence within the U.S. however didn’t sign in as a cash services and products trade with the U.S. Division of Treasury, didn’t require the “know your buyer” (KYC) and id verification, and did not have any anti-money laundering mechanisms in position.
Klimenka, now 42 years previous, managed BTC-e between 2011 and July 2017 till Vinnik’s arrest and the following takedown of the web page.
In line with the newest announcement, Klimenka controlled and maintained the U.S.-based servers that supported BTC-e’s operations thru his Cushy-EX corporate.
The person was once arrested on the request of the US in Latvia on December 21, 2023, and made his first look in a San Francisco courtroom the previous day.
For the costs of cash laundering conspiracy and working an unlicensed cash services and products trade, Klimenka faces a imaginable most sentence of 25 years in jail.
