Aleksey Bilyuchenko (Ivanov), a system administrator for the WEX cryptocurrency exchange, and Alexander Werner, a BTC-e developer, were accused of conspiring to launder approximately 647,000 BTC obtained from the Mt.Gox hack in 2011. This is reported US Department of Justice.
Around September 2011, Bilyuchenko, Werner, and their co-conspirators allegedly gained unauthorized access to a Japanese server that stored cryptocurrency wallets for Mt.Gox clients, according to an indictment by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. From that period until May 2014, they withdrew at least 647,000 BTC from the exchange to addresses under their control on two trading platforms.
In order to launder funds, around April 2012, the defendants allegedly entered into a fraudulent advertising contract with a New York-based bitcoin broker. Prosecutors believe they used it to make a series of large bank transfers worth about $6.6 million to offshore accounts, including shell corporations they control.
“In exchange for the provision of services, the New York bitcoin broker allegedly received some kind of “loan” on the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange, which was created with funds stolen from Mt.Gox. Through it, Bilyuchenko and his accomplices laundered more than 300,000 BTC,” the ministry said.
In addition, the prosecutor’s office for the Northern District of California accused Bilyuchenko of colluding with alleged co-owner BTC-e by Alexander Vinnik to manage this platform from 2011 until its closure in 2017.
The agency said the exchange was not licensed to provide money services, was used for money laundering, and handled “billions of dollars” in criminal proceeds from hackers, ransomware operators, scammers, drug dealers and corrupt government officials.
Recall that Alexei Bilyuchenko was detained in March 2022 in the Moscow region on charges of embezzling the assets of the WEX bitcoin exchange. Law enforcement officers confiscated about 190 million rubles from him and placed him in the Matrosskaya Tishina prison.
In April 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation completed a preliminary investigation into his criminal case, during which Bilyuchenko fully complied with the terms of the pre-trial cooperation agreement and compensated for the damage caused by providing data on his bank accounts.
Subsequently, the case materials were transferred to the Zaeltsovsky District Court of Novosibirsk.
Found a mistake in the text? Select it and press CTRL+ENTER
Cryplogger Newsletters: Keep your finger on the pulse of the bitcoin industry!
Aleksey Bilyuchenko (Ivanov), a system administrator for the WEX cryptocurrency exchange, and Alexander Werner, a BTC-e developer, were accused of conspiring to launder approximately 647,000 BTC obtained from the Mt.Gox hack in 2011. This is reported US Department of Justice.
Around September 2011, Bilyuchenko, Werner, and their co-conspirators allegedly gained unauthorized access to a Japanese server that stored cryptocurrency wallets for Mt.Gox clients, according to an indictment by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. From that period until May 2014, they withdrew at least 647,000 BTC from the exchange to addresses under their control on two trading platforms.
In order to launder funds, around April 2012, the defendants allegedly entered into a fraudulent advertising contract with a New York-based bitcoin broker. Prosecutors believe they used it to make a series of large bank transfers worth about $6.6 million to offshore accounts, including shell corporations they control.
“In exchange for the provision of services, the New York bitcoin broker allegedly received some kind of “loan” on the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange, which was created with funds stolen from Mt.Gox. Through it, Bilyuchenko and his accomplices laundered more than 300,000 BTC,” the ministry said.
In addition, the prosecutor’s office for the Northern District of California accused Bilyuchenko of colluding with alleged co-owner BTC-e by Alexander Vinnik to manage this platform from 2011 until its closure in 2017.
The agency said the exchange was not licensed to provide money services, was used for money laundering, and handled “billions of dollars” in criminal proceeds from hackers, ransomware operators, scammers, drug dealers and corrupt government officials.
Recall that Alexei Bilyuchenko was detained in March 2022 in the Moscow region on charges of embezzling the assets of the WEX bitcoin exchange. Law enforcement officers confiscated about 190 million rubles from him and placed him in the Matrosskaya Tishina prison.
In April 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation completed a preliminary investigation into his criminal case, during which Bilyuchenko fully complied with the terms of the pre-trial cooperation agreement and compensated for the damage caused by providing data on his bank accounts.
Subsequently, the case materials were transferred to the Zaeltsovsky District Court of Novosibirsk.
Found a mistake in the text? Select it and press CTRL+ENTER
Cryplogger Newsletters: Keep your finger on the pulse of the bitcoin industry!