Russian, Belarusian Police Raid 'Cryptocurrency Exchange for Money Laundering'
Date: 2024-08-20 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: IN WORLD
Police officers claim that an "international criminal group" was stealing money under the guise of crypto trading.
They also said that the group was allegedly selling "goods and foreign currency."
According to a statement from Russian Interior Ministry spokesperson Irina Volk, investigators said that the group was "stealing money from citizens of our two countries."
Volk added that Russian and Belarusian operatives and investigators conducted "about 80 raids" in the Moscow region and the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
The ministry released footage from some of the raids, which showed police officers entering private homes.
Volk explained that the group operated five "call centers" in Minsk. Officers raided these addresses, seizing "computer equipment, mobile devices, accounting records, and access to cloud storage."
She added that one of the alleged organizers and "two of his accomplices" were detained in the Moscow region.
During the raid on the residence and offices of the suspected organizer, police seized more than 8 million rubles (about $88,900), as well as about 23 million rubles ($255,560) in foreign currency and 30 units of computer equipment.
The Russian Interior Ministry said the case would be handled by the Investigative Department. In Belarus, the country's Investigative Committee announced the opening of a criminal case against suspects for fraud.
Russian police say the number of cryptocurrency-related crimes is on the rise, and Belarusian officials have made similar claims in recent months.
In addition, security forces have arrested several people in Russia, accusing them of using cryptocurrency to transfer funds to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Cryptocurrency exchanges in Russia remain completely unregulated. However, many high-ranking government officials are calling on Moscow to create a state-owned exchange that could help industrial miners and international trading companies exchange cryptocurrency for fiat.
