Ukraine Authorities Uncovered a Network for Evading Sanctions and Financing Terrorism Through a Crypto Exchange Account

• About $13 million passed through a Ukrainian’s account on a crypto exchange.
• Part of this amount is linked to entities in Russia and the IRGC.
• The State Financial Monitoring Service believes this is part of a cross-border network for money laundering, terrorism financing, and sanctions evasion.

The State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine has uncovered a sanctions-evasion and terrorism-financing network tied to a Ukrainian’s account on an unnamed crypto exchange. The agency’s head, Filip Pronin, reported this. 

About $13 million passed through the account, with $3.5 million tied to sanctioned services in Russia and accounts affiliated with an unspecified international terrorist organization. Pronin noted that the Ukrainian in whose name the account is registered lives in one of the EU countries. 

No signs of trading or investing were found on the account. The agency believes it was used solely for money laundering and transferring funds. The assets came from external crypto wallets, exchanges, and swap services without a verification procedure. 

They were then sent to non-custodial crypto wallets belonging to entities linked to Russia and Iran, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 

According to Pronin, the account owner took certain steps to conceal traces of illegal activity. In particular, he used a VPN. 

The agency claims this individual is connected to 35 organizations across different jurisdictions, which may indicate a cross-border network for money laundering and sanctions evasion. The State Financial Monitoring Service has forwarded the materials to law enforcement for further investigation. 

Earlier, we reported that police in Ukraine exposed a fake crypto academy. Under the guise of training, the perpetrators tricked victims out of money. Total damages are estimated at $1.1 million. 

Сообщение Ukraine Authorities Uncovered a Network for Evading Sanctions and Financing Terrorism Through a Crypto Exchange Account появились сначала на INCRYPTED.