India arrests crypto administrator wanted by US for money laundering

INDIAN authorities have arrested a cryptocurrency exchange administrator at the request of the United States on charges of money laundering conspiracy and sanctions violations, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Wednesday.

The arrest follows a joint operation by the United States, Germany, and Finland, which dismantled the online infrastructure of Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex.

Last week, the US Justice Department announced that two administrators of the exchange had been charged.

One of them, Aleksej Besciokov, a Russian resident and Lithuanian national, was charged with money laundering and accused of violating sanctions and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, according to the US Justice Department.

Besciokov was arrested in Kerala, the CBI said, adding that he was wanted by US authorities. The agency stated that India's foreign ministry had issued a provisional arrest warrant based on Washington’s request.

The CBI also said Besciokov had been planning to leave India. It was not immediately clear why he was in the country. The US is expected to seek his extradition. His representative could not be reached for comment.

"I can confirm Aleksej Besciokov, one of the administrators of Garantex, was arrested in India at the request of the United States," a US Justice Department spokesperson told CNN.

According to the US Justice Department, Garantex has processed at least £74.4 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since April 2019.

The US sanctioned Garantex in April 2022.

Blockchain research firm TRM Labs said in a blog post last week that taking down Garantex was "a major milestone in the fight against illicit finance." However, it warned that sanctioned exchanges often try to bypass restrictions by setting up new entities.

(With inputs from Reuters)