https://sputnikglobe.com/20230119/bitzlato-crypto-exchange-seized-as-founder-accused-of-processing-700m-in-illicit-funds-1106477206.html
Bitzlato Crypto Exchange Seized as Founder Accused of Processing $700m in Illicit Funds
Bitzlato Crypto Exchange Seized as Founder Accused of Processing $700m in Illicit Funds
Sputnik International
US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco claimed on Wednesday that the arrest of the Bitzlato founder “has dealt a significant blow to the crypto crime ecosystem.”
2023-01-19T05:42+0000
2023-01-19T05:42+0000
2023-01-19T05:42+0000
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US and French law enforcement agencies have seized a Hong Kong-registered cryptocurrency exchange, Bitzlato, while also arresting its founder Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian national who is accused of fuelling a "high-tech axis of crypto crime."The 40-year-old, who resides in China, was detained in Miami on Tuesday night and is expected in court on a charge of conducting an unlicensed money-transmitting business and processing more than $700 mln in illicit funds. He is also accused of breaking rules aimed to thwart money laundering.Officials did not elaborate on Wednesday’s press conference why Legkodymov, who reportedly moved to New York in October, was in Miami at the time of his arrest.US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace, in turn, told reporters that “institutions that trade in cryptocurrency are not above the law and their owners are not beyond our reach.”He was echoed by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who warned that “operating offshore or moving your servers out of the continental US will not shield you.”The “tropical island” remark apparently referred to last month’s arrest of in the Bahamas of Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of failed cryptocurrency firm FTX. In December, Bankman-Fried was indicted in what prosecutors described as one of the biggest financial fraud cases in US history.On Bitzlato, it is thought to have conducted hefty cryptocurrency exchanges with users of Hydra Market, a darknet marketplace for drugs, money laundering and stolen financial information, something that international authorities shut down in 2022.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230103/former-ftx-ceo-sam-bankman-fried-pleads-not-guilty-to-federal-fraud-charges---reports-1106018906.html
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cryptocurrency exchange bitzlato, arrest of bitzlato founder anatoly legkodymov, bitzlato's alleged collaboration with hydra market, unlicensed money-transmitting business
cryptocurrency exchange bitzlato, arrest of bitzlato founder anatoly legkodymov, bitzlato's alleged collaboration with hydra market, unlicensed money-transmitting business
US and French law enforcement agencies have seized a Hong Kong-registered cryptocurrency exchange, Bitzlato, while also arresting its founder Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian national who is accused of fuelling a "high-tech axis of crypto crime."
The 40-year-old, who resides in China, was detained in Miami on Tuesday night and is expected in court on a charge of conducting an unlicensed money-transmitting business and processing more than $700 mln in illicit funds. He is also accused of breaking rules aimed to thwart money laundering.
Officials did not elaborate on Wednesday’s press conference why Legkodymov, who reportedly moved to New York in October, was in Miami at the time of his arrest.
US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace, in turn, told reporters that “institutions that trade in cryptocurrency are not above the law and their owners are not beyond our reach.”
“As alleged, Bitzlato sold itself to criminals as a no-questions-asked cryptocurrency exchange, and reaped hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of deposits as a result. The defendant is now paying the price for the malign role that his company played in the cryptocurrency ecosystem,” Peace added.
He was echoed by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who warned that “operating offshore or moving your servers out of the continental US will not shield you.”
“And whether you break our laws from China or Europe, or abuse our financial system from a tropical island, you can expect to answer for your crimes inside a United States courtroom,” she pointed out.
3 January 2023, 20:07 GMT
The “tropical island” remark apparently referred to last month’s
arrest of in the Bahamas of Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of failed cryptocurrency firm FTX. In December, Bankman-Fried was indicted in what prosecutors described as one of the biggest financial fraud cases in US history.
On Bitzlato, it is thought to have conducted hefty cryptocurrency exchanges with users of Hydra Market, a darknet marketplace for drugs, money laundering and stolen financial information, something that international authorities shut down in 2022.
