The Department of Justice, Treasury Department and French policing a large number of Bitzlato’s resources, alleging the firm washed $700 million in illicit Funds.
The United States Department of Justice declared a “significant international Cryptocurrency enforcement activity” against Crypto firm Bitzlato and the capture of its founder, Anatoly Legkodymov.
In a Jan. 18 declaration, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said that authorities had taken enforcement actions against Bizlato in coordination with France, seizing Bitzlato’s website and naming the business as a “primary money laundering concern” connected to Russian illicit finance. According to Monaco, the Department of Justice worked with the Treasury Department and French policing take activity against Bitzlato for “conducting a money transmitting business that transported and communicated illicit funds and that failed to meet U.S. regulatory safeguards.”
As part of the case against Bitzlato, FBI officials Captured Legkodymov, a Russian national based in China, on Jan. 17 in Miami. He is going to be in the U.S,The Southern District of Florida has a district court.
“U.S.The criminal complaint against Bitzlato was based on the fact that the firm was a crucial financial resource for the darknet marketplace.The users of Hydra Market exchanged more than $700 million incryptocurrencies with Bitzlato before the market was shut down.German law enforcement in April 2022.More than 15 million dollars in ransomware proceeds was received by Bitzlato.”
The enforcement activity was a coordinated effort across Europe and the U.S. to hold onto a large number of Bitzlato’s resources — including the firm’s servers — as well as take the founder into custody. Monaco alluded to the case as the “main enforcement effort” against an exchange since the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team was launched in October 2021.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Pleasant of the Department of Justice’s criminal division said that U.S. authorities were “simply getting everything rolling” in taking action against comparative firms engaged with facilitating money laundering. However not commented straightforwardly on the ongoing case against Crypto exchange FTX and its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, Monaco warned against those committing violations against the U.S. financial system “from a tropical island”.
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