The European Union Agency for Police Cooperation (Europol) has reported that authorities have seized control of cryptocurrency wallets containing more than $19 million in cryptocurrency as part of actions taken against cryptocurrency company Bitzlato.
In a January 23 statement, Europol reported that approximately 46% of the assets – €1 billion, or USD 1.09 billion at press time – moving through Bitzlato were related to illicit activities.. The government agency’s analysis suggested that Bitzlato received more than €2.1 billion worth of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Dash (DASH) and Dogecoin (DOGE), much of which was converted into Russian rubles.
“While conversions of crypto assets into fiat currencies are not illegal, investigations into cybercriminal operators indicated that large volumes of criminal assets passed through the platform”Europol said. “Most suspicious transactions are linked to entities sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), with others linked to cyber scams, money laundering,
#Bitzlato: Senior management arrested.
The operation, led by & authorities with Europol support, took down the service’s digital infrastructure in France.
Leading members of the platform’s management were also questioned.
Press release ⤵️https://t.co/k0dGy3rNQk pic.twitter.com/lv5stazDeY
—Europol (@Europol) January 23, 2023
#Bitzlato: Senior managers are arrested.
The operation, led by and authorities with the support of Europol, removed the digital infrastructure of the service in France.
The main members of the management of the platform were also questioned.
Press release
As part of the actions of a cryptocurrency-focused law enforcement team, US authorities announced on January 18 that they had detained Bitzlato founder Anatoly Legkodymov in Florida. Europol added that the operation, which had the support of agencies from Belgium, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands, resulted in the arrest of another 4 people linked to the cryptocurrency exchange: 1 in Cyprus and 3 in Spain.
In addition to the arrests, Europol reported that authorities had seized wallets worth some 18 million euros, or $19.5 million, and had frozen more than 100 accounts at other cryptocurrency exchanges that controlled 50 million euros. US authorities were also involved in efforts to seize Bitzlato’s servers for allegedly being a “major money laundering hotspot” related to illicit Russian finance.
Legkodymov appeared in court for the Southern District of Florida on January 18 after his arrest. It is unclear what charges, in his case, his Bitzlato partners in Europe could face.
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