Aleksej Besciokov, a wanted criminal in the united states, was apprehended by the Central Bureau of Investigation in collaboration with kerala Police.  According to the cbi, the suspect was about to leave india when he was apprehended in Thiruvananthapuram.  Besciokov, a Lithuanian national, and Russian national Aleksandr Mira Serda are charged with running an illegal money laundering scheme to launder the revenues of narcotics trafficking and terrorist organizations using cryptocurrency. 

The US Secret service stated, "According to court documents, between 2019 and 2025, Russian national Aleksandr Mira Serda and Lithuanian national Aleksej Besciokov controlled and operated Garantex, a cryptocurrency exchange that allegedly facilitated money laundering by transnational criminal organizations (including terrorist organizations) and sanctions violations". Garantex has handled at least $96 billion in bitcoin transactions since april 2019.

Mira Serda served as the Chief Commercial Officer and co-founder of Garantex.  According to evidence supplied by US Secret services, Besciokov served as Garantex's principal technical administrator and was in charge of acquiring and maintaining vital Garantex infrastructure in addition to examining and authorizing transactions. "Garantex received hundreds of millions in illegal gains and was used to support a number of crimes, including drug trafficking, terrorism, ransomware, and hacking, which frequently had a significant effect on victims in the United States.
 
The indictment claims that Mira Serda and Besciokov took actions to hide the support of unlawful activity on Garantex's platform after learning that the company was being used to launder criminal proceeds. "For example, when Russian law enforcement sought records relating to an account registered to Mira Serda, Garantex provided incomplete information in response and falsely claimed the account was not verified when, in fact, Garantex had associated the account with Mira Serda's personal identifying documents, even while disclosing identifying information related to other accounts requested by Russian law enforcement."

"The subject is wanted for a trial before the united states district court for the Eastern district court of Virginia," the cbi stated on Wednesday.  In order to launder the proceeds of illicit activities such as ransomware, computer hacking, and narcotics transactions, the subject Alekse J. Besciokov and other accomplices are accused of running the cryptocurrency exchange "Garantex" and making money off of it.  that 'Garantex' laundered millions of US dollars in ransomware revenues between 2021 and 2024, including money from the Conti, Play, and Black Basta ransomware gangs." " With a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail, Mira Serda and Besciokov are each accused of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
 
Besciokov is also accused of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and conspiracy to violate the international Economic Emergency Powers Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in person, according to the US Secret Services. "On a request submitted by USA, Ministry of External Affairs acting under the Extradition Act, 1962 got issued a Provisional arrest warrant on 10th march against the subject from ACJM patiala House court in Delhi," the cbi stated.
 
 
 
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SIBY JEYYA

13/03/2025 08:01 AM