Garantex admins face charges in the US for money laundering for hackers and terrorists

1. Two administrators of the Russia-based cryptocurrency exchange Garantex are facing criminal charges in the United States for allegedly helping hackers, ransomware groups, and terrorist organizations launder illicit funds. 

The U.S. Department of Justice named Lithuanian national and Russian resident Aleksej Besciokov, 46, and Russian citizen and United Arab Emirates resident Aleksandr “Mira” Serda, 40, in an indictment that also accuses them of violating U.S. sanctions. Prosecutors allege the two knowingly allowed Garantex to be used for laundering proceeds from cybercrime, terrorism, ransomware, and drug trafficking.

In the formal indictment, prosecutors say Garantex “received hundreds of millions in criminal proceeds” and processed at least 96 billion dollars in cryptocurrency transactions since 2019.

According to the Department of Justice, Besciokov and Serda knew of these unlawful transactions and tried to hide the exchange’s role in such activities. They are accused of conspiring to launder money, and Besciokov also faces charges of violating U.S. sanctions and running an unlicensed money transmitting business. 

Both defendants face up to 20 years in prison for the money laundering conspiracy alone, while Besciokov could face an additional 20-year sentence for the sanctions-related charge and up to five years for operating an unlicensed business.

Prosecutors say that Garantex disregarded inquiries from law enforcement agencies

U.S. prosecutors claim that Besciokov personally authorized transactions linked to the Lazarus Group, a notorious hacking organization said to be backed by the North Korean government. These transactions went forward, prosecutors allege, despite clear signals that they derived from criminal operations.

In addition, according to the Department of Justice, Russian authorities once requested information tied to a Garantex account belonging to Serda. Rather than provide correct details, the exchange submitted incomplete records and insisted the account “was not verified.” However, investigators claim Garantex had already associated Serda’s personal documentation with that account, suggesting that the exchange actively disregarded inquiries from law enforcement.

The Department of Justice says it does not know whether Serda has been apprehended in the United Arab Emirates. Both Besciokov and Serda could not be reached for comment, and it remains unclear if either is currently in custody. In the indictment, prosecutors contend that the pair worked to ensure that Garantex would remain accessible for illicit transactions even when authorities in Russia, its home jurisdiction, posed questions.

The Department of Justice also describes how Garantex avoided U.S. sanctions and keep transactions hidden. The DOJ said, “Garantex moved its operational cryptocurrency wallets to different virtual currency addresses on a daily basis in order to make it difficult for U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchanges to identify and block transactions with Garantex accounts.”

The US law enforcement has been watching Garantex for a long time

U.S. law enforcement has been monitoring Garantex for some time. Back in 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the exchange, pointing to an internal analysis that tied more than 100 million dollars in Garantex transactions to criminal actors and dark web markets.

Among those sums were close to six million dollars connected to the Conti ransomware gang, a Russia-based group, and roughly 2.6 million dollars linked to the Hydra marketplace. Hydra, also a Russia-focused darknet platform, was shuttered in a separate international operation. European authorities also penalized Garantex in 2024 over its ties to Russian banks that had already been sanctioned for their country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Just before this incident, the U.S. Secret Service and other federal agencies seized the official Garantex websites. Anyone navigating to Garantex’s online pages now sees a banner bearing law enforcement logos and a notice that says, “The domain of Garantex has been seized by the United States Secret Service pursuant to a seizure warrant.”

As part of the latest enforcement action, U.S. authorities froze more than 26 million dollars in digital assets associated with Garantex’s money laundering. Department of Justice spokesperson Shannon Shevlin said that investigators seized 23,034,884.75 Tether (USDT) and 35.57 Bitcoin, worth around three million dollars at the time, on Binance.

Meanwhile, Tether itself took steps against Garantex, apparently blocking the exchange’s wallets that held more than 28 million dollars in USDT. In response, Garantex suspended all activity on Thursday, telling users on Telegram that Tether had “entered the war against the Russian crypto market.”

On its official Telegram channel, Garantex declared, “We are fighting and will not give up! Please note that all [Tether] in Russian wallets is currently under threat. As always, we are the first, but not the last.” 

After U.S. officials announced the new charges and the site seizures, Garantex used the same channel to warn users of scammers claiming to have launched a replacement service or offering to withdraw funds. The company’s statement urged caution, saying these purported services merely aim to obtain users’ personal data. 

Meanwhile, it remains uncertain whether either administrator will appear in a U.S. courtroom to answer for the allegations. Garantex’s Telegram posts suggest the exchange intends to find a workaround and found a possible solution for the blocked assets. The exchange invited users with positive balances to a personal meeting in the exchange’s Moscow office. 

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