U.S. Charges Two Crypto Money Laundering Operators Over $3.89 Billion in Illicit Transfers

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, two cryptocurrency money laundering service operators, Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk, 37, and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev, 25, were arrested on June 11. The suspects, residents of Batumi, Georgia, were charged with conspiracy to launder money and money laundering. They allegedly operated a crypto mixing service called AudiA6 since 2021, processing approximately 10,333 Bitcoin worth $3.89 billion while charging up to 5 percent fees.

The operation was coordinated by U.S. Secret Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Europol, and law enforcement agencies from Australia, Canada, France, Georgia, and Germany. Associated servers, domains, and cryptocurrency assets were seized. If convicted, each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison.