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Russian nationals face charges for allegedly using cryptocurrency mixers to launder proceeds from ransomware, wire fraud, and theft, obscuring illicit funds’ origins, the DOJ says.
Russian Nationals Face DOJ Charges for Laundering Cryptocurrency Theft Proceeds
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Jan. 10 the indictment of three Russian nationals for operating cryptocurrency mixers used in laundering criminal proceeds. Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko, Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik, and Anton Vyachlavovich Tarasov were charged with facilitating money laundering through Blender.io and Sinbad.io, services designed to obscure the origins of illicit funds. Ostapenko and Oleynik were arrested in December 2024, while Tarasov remains at large. Sinbad.io’s infrastructure was dismantled in 2023 through a coordinated international law enforcement effort.
Brent S. Wible, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, stated:
According to the indictment, the defendants operated cryptocurrency ‘mixers’ that served as safe havens for laundering criminally derived funds, including the proceeds of ransomware and wire fraud.
Blender.io and Sinbad.io allegedly catered to cybercriminals, allowing users to pay a fee to anonymize transactions. Prosecutors say the mixers enabled criminals to launder proceeds from cryptocurrency thefts, ransomware attacks, and other offenses while concealing the origins of their funds.
The DOJ explained:
According to court documents and publicly available information, Blender.io and Sinbad.io were cryptocurrency mixers that allowed their users, for a fee, to send cryptocurrency to designated recipients in a manner designed to hide the source of the cryptocurrency.
“Blender.io and Sinbad.io were available for use by the public via the internet and used by criminals looking to distance themselves from the fact that their funds came from cryptocurrency thefts, ransomware attacks, and other crimes,” the Justice Department noted. Both services have been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for links to cybercrime, including funds tied to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating unlicensed money-transmitting businesses, carrying potential sentences of up to 20 years in prison for the conspiracy count.
