US Arrests Russian Co-founder of Bitzlato Exchange on Suspicion of Money Laundering Illegal Gambling and Drug Money
Anatoly Legkodymov, the Russian founder of Hong Kong-registered crypto exchange Bitzlato, has been arrested by US authorities for allegedly processing $700 million in illicit funds.
In a January 18 filing, the U.S. Department of Justice said Legkodymov was arrested in Miami on Tuesday on charges that he run the exchange as an unregistered money-transmitting business that easily facilitated the transfer of illicit funds.
The filing read:"Bitzlato has processed approximately $4.58 billion worth of cryptocurrency transactions since May 3, 2018. A substantial portion of those transactions constitute the proceeds of crime, as well as funds intended for use in criminal transactions."Legkodymov, a 40-year-old Russian national who resides in Shenzhen, is the company’s majority shareholder.
The DOJ argues that he has failed to establish an effective Anti Money Laundering (AML) program. The crypto exchange did not even have "KYC" requirements, and users could start trading simply by logging in using their email addresses.
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