On Thursday, September 26, the United States government sanctioned a virtual currency exchange in Russia and indicted two Russian citizens in a joint operation involving the Department of Justice, State Department, and Treasury Department along with other federal agencies and international law enforcement organizations. The action was taken to combat transnational cybercrime involving cryptocurrencies.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco stated in a press release that the coordinated action highlighted the Department of Justice’s continued efforts to combat malicious cyber actors and their criminal ecosystems. The two indicted Russians, Timur Shakhmametov and Sergey Ivanov, are accused of engaging in extensive money laundering activities that amassed millions of dollars, fueling the growth of a global criminal network. Ivanov is alleged to have facilitated services for dark web drug dealers and ransomware operators.
As part of the joint operation on Thursday, Dutch partners seized servers hosting the virtual currency exchanges PM2BTC and Cryptex, shutting them down globally. Dutch authorities confiscated over $7 million worth of cryptocurrency from these servers.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the Treasury Department identified PM2BTC as a “primary money-laundering concern” linked to illicit Russian financial activities. Additionally, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Cryptex and Ivanov.
The U.S. State Department has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Shakhmametov and Ivanov, while the Department of Justice has also put up a $1 million reward for details on other leaders besides Shakhmametov involved in the online credit card data trading marketplace known as “Joker’s Stash.”
According to the Secret Service, Shakhmametov operated Joker’s Stash under aliases like “JokerStash” and “Vega,” specializing in selling stolen payment card data. During its operation, Joker’s Stash sold about 40 million payment card records annually, totaling billions of stolen payment card data, making it one of the largest and most successful carding markets in history. The estimated profits range from $280 million to over $1 billion.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller emphasized in a statement the determination of the United States and its allies to prevent cybercriminal accomplices from evading justice. He underscored the commitment to leveraging all available tools and powers to disrupt and expose money laundering networks, ensuring that cybercriminals and their supporters face consequences. Miller urged Russia to take specific actions to prevent cybercriminals from freely operating within its jurisdiction.