A Russian national has been extradited to the US by the Netherlands on suspicion of legalizing ransomware payments in cryptocurrencies on behalf of cybercriminals targeting hospitals. The man was allegedly involved in criminal activity for a period of three years before his arrest in Amsterdam last November.
Dutch authorities handed over alleged Russian money launderer to US custody
Russian national Denis Dubnikov, 29, has been extradited this week from the Netherlands to the United States, where he faces money laundering charges in the District of Oregon, the US Attorney’s Office in Portland and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said. declare.
Dubnikov made his initial appearance in federal court on Wednesday and a five-day jury trial is set to begin on October 4. In August, a federal grand jury in Portland indicted him for his role in an international crypto money laundering conspiracy.
According to the indictment, the Russians and its allies knowingly and intentionally siphoned off the proceeds of ransomware attacks on individuals and organizations across the United States and in other countries, between at least August 2018 and August 2021.
The criminals specifically laundered ransom payments extracted from the victims of the Ryuk ransomware attacks. First identified four years ago, Ryuk, a type of software that encrypts files and attempts to delete system backups, has been linked to a Russian ransomware group. Hospitals and healthcare providers in the US have become victims of the Kovid-19 pandemic.
In July 2019, Dubnikov allegedly laundered more than $400,000 in Ryuk ransom proceeds, the DOJ said in a statement. The people involved in the conspiracy looted at least $70 million in total. If convicted, the Russian could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Denis Dubnikov was detained in Amsterdam on November 1, 2021. Speaking to Russian media at the time, his lawyer Arkady Buch alleged that he was “practically abducted” by US law enforcement in Mexico before being transferred to Europe.
The co-founder of coin trading platform Coyote Crypto and Eggchange was first held at the airport in Mexico City, where he arrived on vacation, and then flew to the Netherlands, where he was arrested by Dutch authorities.
Dubnikov’s extradition follows a similar development in the case of Alexander Vinnik, the alleged operator of notorious cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e. Vinnik was captured in the summer of 2017 in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, where he had come on summer vacation with his family. He was arrested on a warrant from the US accusing him of laundering at least $4 billion through the now-defunct crypto trading platform.
The Russian IT specialist was previously handed over to the French judiciary which sentenced him to five years in prison for money laundering. After completing his term in France, Vinnik was returned to Greece and extradited to the US. The hasty transfer angered his lawyers, who think he would become a “hostage” of the current geopolitical tensions surrounding the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Moscow accused Washington of being a “real victim of Russian citizens”.
Do you expect other Russians, potentially involved in crypto-related illegal activities, to be extradited to the US? Tell us in the comments section below.
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