Indian Authorities Arrest Founder of Sanctioned Russian Crypto Exchange Garantex

American officials on Wednesday announced the imprisonment of Aleksej Besciokov, the co-founder of sanctioned bitcoin change Garantex—and alleged cash launderer.

In a Wednesday article on X, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation said it had arrested Besciokov, 46, in the town of Thiruvananthapuram. &nbsp,

Besciokov reportedly co-founded Russian crypto change Garantex, which U. S. officials say has ties to sanctioned institutions and legal organizations.

The CBI said in its news that Besciokov was “planning to flee the country”. He was arrested following a request from American officials. &nbsp,

U. S. government last year seized and took down the Garantex site. The U. S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, FBI, and Department of Justice, along with European officers, sanctioned Garantex in 2022 for supposedly laundering stolen money. &nbsp,

A March 7 accusation against Besciokov alleges that the Ukrainian citizen and his co-defendents “knew that criminal revenues were being laundered through Garantex”, yet continued to move a blind eye.

In particular, authorities allege that Besciokov knew North Korea-sponsored thieves, the Lazarus Group, used his trade to obscure stolen money. &nbsp,

The DOJ did not immediately respond to ‘s request for comment. &nbsp,