Guarantx, an exchange of popular Russian crypto with ransomware gangs and Darknet markets, has been abolished in an international law for applying the law, according to an announcement of Friday from the United States Ministry of Justice (DOJ).
On Thursday, a coalition of organizations responsible for the application of the laws of the United States, Germany and Finland seized the Domains and Servers of Garantinex, and frozen nearly 28 million dollars of crypto linked to exchange with the help of Stablecoin from Tether.
The OFAC control office (OFAC) of the US Treasury (OFAC) sanctioned Guarantx in 2022, accusing the exchange of knowingly facilitating money for ransomware actors, notably Basta Conti and Black, and the Darknet markets as Hydra, which, before its stop in 2022, was formerly the largest Darknet market in the world.
The sanctions had little or no effect on Garantinex – according to data from the Elliptic Blockchain detection company, which helped the United States in its survey, the exchange processed more than $ 60 billion in cryptographic transactions after being sanctioned. In total, the scholarship has treated more than $ 96 billion.
According to DocumentsGIANTEX has collected practically no known information from your customer (KYC) on its customers, allowing criminals to use its services without control, and the accounts have been recorded for customers using names such as “drugs”, “pirate”, “taliban”, “cashout, cleancoins” and “god”.
In addition to ransomware players and Darknet markets, Guarantx clientele included a north-sanctioned hacking team from North Korea, the Lazarus group, which was at the origin of the $ 1.5 billion BYIT service last month, as well as Russian oligarchs, which used the service to escape international war in Ukraine. The escape companies of sophisticated international sanctions, such as TGR Group, which are addressed to the Russian elites, have been linked to Guarantx.
After the seizure of servers and the Garantinex areas, two of its operators were charged penal to the United States for their links with the exchange.
The national and Russian resident of Lithuanian Aleksej Bisciokov, 46, was accused of conspiracy of money laundering, conspiracy in order to violate the sanctions and conspiracy in order to operate a company of transmission of money without license. Aleksandr Mira Serda, 40, Russian citizen currently residing in the United Arab Emirates, has been accused of money laundering conspirators.
