At US request, India arrests crypto administrator accused of money laundering

Indian authorities arrested at Washington's request a cryptocurrency exchange administrator accused of money laundering conspiracy and violating sanctions, India's top crime-fighting bureau said on Wednesday.

The US, Germany and Finland took down the online infrastructure used by the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, the US justice department said last week, adding two administrators of the exchange were charged.

One of those administrators was Aleksej Besciokov, a Russian resident and Lithuanian national who was charged with money laundering and also faced accusations of violating sanctions and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, the department said on Friday.

Besciokov was arrested in the southern Indian state of Kerala, India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said, adding he was wanted by US authorities. The CBI said that at Washington's request, India's foreign ministry had a provisional arrest warrant issued.

It added Besciokov was planning to flee India. It was not immediately clear why he was in the country. Washington is expected to pursue Besciokov's extradition. His representative could not immediately be reached.

“I can confirm Aleksej Besciokov, one of the administrators of Garantex, was arrested in India at the request of the US,” a US justice department spokesperson told CNN.

The exchange has processed at least $96bn (R1.76-trillion) in cryptocurrency transactions since April 2019, the department said last week.

Garantex was sanctioned by the US in April 2022.

Blockchain research company TRM Labs said in a blog post last week the takedown of Garantex “marks a major milestone in the fight against illicit finance” but cautioned that sanctioned exchanges often attempt to evade restrictions by creating new entities.

Reuters