Russian Ministry of Inside Affairs officers took a $53.2 million Bitcoin and ETH bribe from a crypto change govt, a significant newspaper within the nation claimed this week.
Per Kommersant, the officers had been named Georgy Satyukov and Dmitry Sokolov, staff at “one of many ministry’s most secret divisions.”
The media outlet and main Russian Telegram information channels claimed the duo labored on the Bureau of Particular Technical Occasions. The bureau is allegedly codenamed “Division Ok.”
Stories declare the duo obtained their bribes in crypto over a interval from March 19 to October 2021.
Russian Ministry of Inside Affairs Rocked by Crypto Bribe Allegations
Telegram information channels claimed Division Ok is a secret cyber crime investigation unit. The unit seems to have been investigating the BTC-e crypto change.
A pc knowledgeable named Alexander Vinnik based BTC-e. Vinnik labored on the agency from 2011 to 2017. He was arrested in Greece in 2017 on fraud and cash laundering prices.
Media shops defined {that a} Singapore-based agency named Wex took over BTC-e enterprise operations. Nonetheless, questions remained over what ought to occur relating to BTC-e buyer funds.
Legislation enforcers allegedly consider a Wex govt named Alexey Ivanov provided Satyukov and Sokolov Bitcoin and Ethereum cash to “shield” him from a police probe.
Officers reportedly consider Ivanov despatched Satyukov and Sokolov a mixed complete of BTC 2,200 and “greater than ETH 10,000 thousand.”
The media shops mentioned the cash “was transferred via Sokolov to cryptocurrency wallets held by Satyukov.”
German authorities arrest two males suspected of espionage for Russia and membership of a terror group planning acts of sabotage towards army and industrial websites https://t.co/nKRj62Obb6
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Officers ‘Fled Nation Fearing Prosecution’
Kommersant mentioned the duo had been arrested “in absentia” after fleeing the nation. An unnamed supply mentioned they had been residing in Dubai, with one residing in an house within the Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest constructing.
The media outlet mentioned that investigators had “discovered concerning the alleged corruption within the division of the Ministry of Inside Affairs” from Ivanov.
The latter was accused of embezzling cash from a crypto change in 2023. Kommersant mentioned Ivanov had agreed to offer data in a “pre-trial settlement” with the First Deputy Prosecutor-Basic Anatoly Razinkin.
The Ministry of Inside Affairs in Moscow, Russia. (Supply: Lodo27 [CC BY-SA 3.0])
Satyukov, the media outlet continued, is a former “head of a division that combats IT-related crimes within the credit score and monetary sector.”
The newspaper wrote that, if the duo had been responsible, this could be a brand new file for a bribery case in Russia.
The earlier “holder” of this “file” was one other inside ministry official, Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko. The latter was jailed for 13 years in 2019 after taking a bribe price virtually $15 million.
‘Individuals Suppose Crypto Transactions Aren’t Traceable. They’re Flawed’
Media commentators mentioned there was “a false impression that bribes or any fraudulent actions that make use of cryptocurrency can’t be tracked” in Russia. As such, many corrupt officers “actively use” crypto.
BFM quoted the Co-chairman of the Russian Affiliation of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Alexander Treshchev as stating:
“There may be nice uncertainty concerning the authorized standing of cryptocurrency in Russia, though there are no less than 1.5 to 2 million crypto merchants on this nation. Few of them know something about whether or not [crypto trading] is authorized. They don’t know what might be performed, and what can’t be performed.”
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Treshchev added:
“As we will clearly see, regulation enforcement officers have begun to know what crypto wallets are and how you can switch [coins]. However they’re nonetheless simply as naive as everybody else in that they don’t perceive that each single transaction is traceable [on blockchain networks].”
Russia’s lack of crypto regulation has turn out to be a thorn in Moscow’s aspect. Earlier this 12 months, the Monetary Motion Job Power (FATF) downgraded Russia’s compliance score because of its “inadequate regulation of digital belongings and cryptocurrencies.”
Politicians and central bankers have claimed they’re near issuing a draft crypto regulation invoice, with industrial miners urging a quicker rollout for laws.
Earlier this week, anti-corruption officers in Ukraine introduced {that a} serving lawmaker will stand trial after allegedly making an attempt to bribe a public official with Bitcoin.