India arrests Russian resident wanted by US over $152 billion cryptocurrency money-laundering scheme

India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has announced the arrest of an administrator of a cryptocurrency exchange. The individual is accused by the United States of involvement in a money laundering conspiracy and violating sanctions regulations. The exchange's online infrastructure had previously been dismantled in a joint operation by the United States, Germany, and Finland. The U.S. Department of Justice issued a statement last week confirming that lawsuits had been filed against two administrators of the exchange.

The arrested individual is Aleksei Besprozvannyi, a 46-year-old Russian and Lithuanian citizen. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Besprozvannyi faces money laundering charges, as well as accusations of violating sanctions regulations and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Another individual involved is Aleksandr Mieleskin, a 40-year-old Russian citizen and resident of the United Arab Emirates, who is also charged with money laundering and conspiracy.

The U.S. Department of Justice's statement last week indicated that, according to court documents, between 2019 and 2025, Besprozvannyi and Mieleskin controlled and operated the Garantex exchange. This exchange received hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal proceeds and was used to facilitate various criminal activities, including hacking, ransomware, terrorism, and drug trafficking, which significantly impacted U.S. victims.

The indictment shows that Besprozvannyi and Mieleskin were aware that criminal proceeds were being laundered through Garantex and took steps to conceal the illicit activities on their platform. It is alleged that Garantex has processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since April 2019. Besprozvannyi was arrested on Wednesday in Kerala, southern India, following a provisional arrest warrant request made by the United States to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation stated that Besprozvannyi was planning to flee India, but it is currently unclear why he was in India. It is expected that the United States will seek to extradite Besprozvannyi. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed to CNN that Besprozvannyi was arrested in India at the request of the United States. In addition, U.S. law enforcement has seized three website domains used to support Garantex's operations and frozen over $26 million in funds.

The U.S. Department of Justice stated that the maximum sentence for conspiracy and money laundering is 20 years in prison for each count, while the maximum sentence for conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business is 5 years in prison.