
U.S. legislation enforcement brokers have “kidnapped” crypto entrepreneur Denis Dubnikov in Mexico, earlier than transferring him to the Netherlands the place he was arrested, his lawyer instructed Russian media. Dubnikov is suspected of cash laundering and faces as much as 20 years in jail if extradited to the US.
FBI Accused of Kidnapping Russian Citizen With Cryptocurrency Enterprise
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has “virtually kidnapped” Russian nationwide Denis Dubnikov in Mexico, later arrested in Amsterdam on Nov. 1, his lawyer Arkady Bukh alleged, chatting with Sputnik. The co-founder of crypto buying and selling platforms Coyote Crypto and Eggchange was first held on the airport in Mexico Metropolis whereas on trip after which boarded a flight to the Netherlands the place he was detained by Dutch authorities. The protection lawyer defined:
Mexico has not let him enter the nation. The US intelligence providers have put him on a aircraft to the Netherlands and despatched him there having paid for his ticket. In different phrases, he was kidnapped actually.
In accordance with Bukh’s description of the occasions, Dubnikov was expelled from Mexico as a result of the nation’s extradition coverage will not be as “preferrred” as that of Holland. “They’ve purchased a ticket, in different phrases, they’ve actually kidnapped him and despatched him to the Netherlands as a result of extradition from the Netherlands is actually assured,” the lawyer elaborated additional.
The authorized consultant additionally revealed that the Russian citizen is at present held in a Dutch jail and famous that the protection expects his extradition to the US. Denis Dubnikov has been accused of conspiracy to commit cash laundering by way of wallets operated by his crypto companies and will resist 20 years in jail within the U.S., Arkady Bukh detailed, including:
Up to now, we don’t conform to extradition, however we are going to most likely give our consent later as a result of the Netherlands is a rustic the place the struggle towards extradition is statistically meaningless. We’re finding out: possibly it’s value agreeing to a fast extradition and sorting it out right here.
Dubnikov’s Arrest Linked to Ryuk Ransomware Group
In accordance with the Sputnik report, Dubnikov’s detention is among the many first arrests within the case towards the Ryuk group which is linked to ransomware assaults on hospitals within the U.S. Authorities there imagine Dubnikov has obtained a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} in bitcoin, a portion of which was allegedly obtained by way of Ryuk ransomware strikes.
Denis Dubnikov will not be the primary Russian nationwide with a cryptocurrency enterprise detained on request by the U.S. In 2017, IT specialist Alexander Vinnik was arrested in Greece throughout a visit along with his household. American prosecutors declare Vinnik, an alleged operator of the notorious BTC-e, has laundered as much as $9 billion by way of the now-defunct alternate. He was later extradited to France and sentenced to 5 years in jail for cash laundering. In Might, a French courtroom rejected an extradition request from Moscow.
The information of Dubnikov’s arrest got here after a Bloomberg report unveiled that his Eggchange is being investigated for cash laundering in Europe and the US. The U.S. has been concentrating on different Russian crypto platforms recently, primarily based on related accusations.
In September, the Treasury Division blacklisted Suex, a Czech-registered crypto dealer working out of workplaces in Russia and suspected of processing a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in crypto transactions associated to scams, darknet markets, and ransomware actors akin to Ryuk. This week, the division sanctioned Chatex, a crypto alternate bot linked to Suex, in addition to two different ransomware operators.
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