A Russian nationwide suspected of laundering ransomware funds in cryptocurrency on behalf of cybercriminals concentrating on hospitals has been extradited to the U.S. by the Netherlands. The person was allegedly concerned within the legal exercise for a interval of three years earlier than his arrest in Amsterdam final November.

Alleged Russian Cash Launderer Handed Over to U.S. Custody by Dutch Authorities

Denis Dubnikov, a 29-year-old Russian citizen, has been extradited this week from the Netherlands to america, the place he’s to face fees of cash laundering within the District of Oregon, the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace in Portland and the U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) introduced.

Dubnikov made his preliminary look in federal courtroom on Wednesday and a five-day jury trial has been scheduled to start on Oct. 4. In August, a federal grand jury in Portland charged him for his position in a world crypto cash laundering conspiracy.

In accordance with the indictment, the Russian and his accomplices have knowingly and deliberately laundered the proceeds of ransomware assaults on people and organizations, all through america and in different nations, between no less than August 2018 and August 2021.

The perpetrators particularly laundered ransom funds extracted from victims of Ryuk ransomware assaults. First recognized 4 years in the past, Ryuk is a kind of software program that encrypts recordsdata and makes an attempt to delete system backups, which has been linked to a Russian ransomware group. Hospitals and healthcare suppliers within the U.S. have develop into its victims within the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In July 2019, Dubnikov allegedly laundered greater than $400,000 in Ryuk ransom proceeds, the DOJ stated in a press release. These concerned within the conspiracy laundered no less than $70 million in complete. If convicted, the Russian might get a most sentence of 20 years in jail.

Denis Dubnikov was detained in Amsterdam on Nov. 1, 2021. Chatting with Russian media on the time, his lawyer Arkady Bukh alleged that he was “virtually kidnapped” by U.S. legislation enforcement in Mexico earlier than being transferred to Europe.

The co-founder of the coin buying and selling platforms Coyote Crypto and Eggchange was first held on the airport in Mexico Metropolis, the place he arrived on trip, after which placed on a flight to the Netherlands the place he was arrested by Dutch authorities.

Dubnikov’s extradition follows an identical improvement within the case of Alexander Vinnik, the alleged operator of the notorious cryptocurrency change BTC-e. Vinnik was apprehended in the summertime of 2017 within the Greek metropolis of Thessaloniki the place he arrived on a summer season vacation together with his household. He was arrested on a warrant from the U.S. which accuses him of laundering no less than $Four billion by means of the now-defunct crypto buying and selling platform.

The Russian IT specialist was first handed over to the French judiciary which sentenced him to 5 years in jail for cash laundering. After he served his time period in France, Vinnik was returned to Greece and extradited to the U.S. The hasty switch angered his attorneys who suppose he’ll develop into a “hostage” of the present geopolitical tensions surrounding the warfare in Ukraine. In the meantime, Moscow accused Washington of conducting a “actual hunt for Russian residents.”

Do you anticipate different Russians, doubtlessly concerned in crypto-related unlawful actions, to be extradited to the U.S.? Inform us within the feedback part under.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Japanese Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a author is what I’m, quite than what I do.” Apart from crypto, blockchain and fintech, worldwide politics and economics are two different sources of inspiration.