DOJ Charges Crypto CEO In Alleged $700M Scheme

USA Today reports:

The founder of the Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato was arrested early Wednesday in Miami in connection with a vast money laundering operation, accused of transmitting more than $700 million in illicit funds in the past four years.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Anatoly Legkodymov, 40, a Russian national, oversaw a major “high-tech financial hub that catered to known crooks,” including cybercriminals and drug dealers seeking to process dirty money.

“Today the Department of Justice dealt a significant blow to the cryptocrime ecosystem,” Monaco said. “Bitzlato facilitated the transmission of hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit funds, fueling darknet marketplaces and laundering the proceeds of ransomware attacks,” Monaco said.

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Justice Department officials say the founder of Bitzlato, a crypto exchange ‘notorious for laundering criminal proceeds from the dark net,’ has been arrested pic.twitter.com/7b4d58DaGn

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) January 18, 2023