Investing.com -- U.S. and European authorities have closed Garantex, a Moscow-based cryptocurrency exchange, accusing it of processing nearly $100 billion in transactions, a substantial amount of which was allegedly for criminal and terrorist groups. The exchange was a critical channel for Russians to transfer money into and out of the country, despite Western attempts to isolate Russia’s financial system.
Despite being sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2022, Garantex’s operations continued to flourish. Its clientele ranged from oligarch intermediaries and weapons importers to ransomware groups and drug trafficking rings.
The Justice Department, in cooperation with Germany and Finland, took action today to disrupt and shut down the online infrastructure used to run Garantex. The cryptocurrency exchange is accused of facilitating money laundering by transnational criminal organizations, including terrorist groups, and violating sanctions. Since April 2019, it is reported that Garantex has processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions.
On March 6, U.S. law enforcement, led by the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), executed a seizure order authorized by a judge in the Eastern District of Virginia against three website domain names used to support Garantex’s operations. As per court records disclosed today, Garantex.org, Garantex.io, and Garantex.academy were linked to the administration and operation of Garantex. The seizure of these domains will prevent these sites from being used for money laundering and further crimes. Individuals visiting these sites now will be greeted with a message stating that the site has been seized by law enforcement.
In conjunction with the coordinated actions, German and Finnish law enforcement seized servers hosting Garantex’s operations. U.S. law authorities have separately obtained earlier copies of Garantex’s servers, including customer and accounting databases. Additionally, U.S. law enforcement has frozen over $26 million in funds used to facilitate Garantex’s money laundering activities.
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