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Russia's Garantex Crypto Exchange Seized, Money Laundering Charges Filed

Garantex, a Russian crypto exchange linked to ransomware and darknet activities, was dismantled by international forces led by U.S., German, and Finnish law enforcement. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the seizure of Garantex domains and servers, freezing approximately $28 million in cryptocurrencies. Despite sanctions by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control in 2022 for facilitating money laundering activities, Garantex processed over $96 billion, including transactions post-sanction. The exchange, criticized for lax KYC protocols, served notorious clients, including North Korean hackers and Russian oligarchs seeking to bypass sanctions. Two operators, Lithuanian national Aleksej Besciokov and Russian citizen Aleksandr Mira Serda, face charges in the U.S. for money laundering and violating sanctions, highlighting ongoing international cooperation in regulating crypto exchanges linked to criminal activities.