The Department of Justice (DoJ) allegedly announced a global enforcement action against the Russian crypto exchange Bitzlato, prompting industry players to pay special attention to developments in this sector. A series of events have unfolded over the last several weeks, starting with Binance’s designation as a counter-party and culminating with the suspension of many user accounts pending the outcome of ongoing investigations.
According to reports, the top Bitzlato brass was detained at the end of Jan due to a joint French-American investigation. Additionally, cryptocurrencies worth more than €18M were attracted. Anatoly Legkodymov, the Russian exchange CEO, was arrested in Spain in connection with the case at the beginning of February.
Anton Shkurenko is suspected of a wide range of computer felonies
According to recent reports, the co-founder of Bitzlato, Anton Shkurenko, was taken into custody on February 6 in Moscow. He was reportedly suspected of participating in a dark web criminal gang and committing several tech crimes.
The executive recently discussed his experience of being detained by police for an ID check in an interview with CoinDesk. There was also the fact that Shkurenko was a wanted man on Interpol’s wanted list. He reportedly set the record straight about the lack of active criminal proceedings against him in Russia.
Bitzlato executive plans to recreate the exchange
Some discussion resulted in Shkurenko’s release. Reports say he promised to meet with investigators whenever they needed him to. A no-detention warrant was also issued to prevent any further arrests of the executive. According to CoinDesk, Shkurenko said, “I kinda think I convinced the plaintiff of my innocence,” referring to the ongoing probe into his actions.
According to reports, the US Department of Justice thinks that $700M was moved via the Russian exchange. Several federal officials in the United States have already expressed concerns about Bitzlato’s money-laundering activities.
According to Shkurenko, the market is “not ashamed of its duty,” and every effort is being made to eradicate fraudsters. Furthermore, the CEO of the exchange said that Bitzlato is now ready to resume operations. It also intends to pay clients who are unable to utilize the service.
According to accounts, Shkurenko pledged to start the trade from the comfort of his own home, emphasizing that it would not need a significant time commitment.
Tokenhell produces content exposure for over 5,000 crypto companies and you can be one of them too! Contact at info@tokenhell.com if you have any questions. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Some of the posts on this website are guest posts or paid posts that are not written by Tokenhell authors (namely Crypto Cable , Sponsored Articles and Press Release content) and the views expressed in these types of posts do not reflect the views of this website. Tokenhell is not responsible for the content, accuracy, quality, advertising, products or any other content or banners (ad space) posted on the site. Read full terms and conditions / disclaimer.
