Russian Police Shut Down $2.2M ‘Cross-Border Crypto Exchange’
Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...
Police in Moscow, Russia, say they have shut down a “cross-border” crypto exchange that they think helped clients send money abroad.
Officials said the exchange operators pretended they were operating a travel agency. But in fact, police claimed, the agency was a front for a cross-border crypto exchange.
And police said the suspected exchange processed $2.2 million worth of crypto transactions for Russian clients.
In a Telegram post from the Russian Interior Ministry, a spokesperson explained that they had conducted a raid on the suspected exchange’s officers.
Police think the operators carried out “illegal banking activities,” and took 1% commission fees from cash-paying customers who wanted to transfer money to overseas-based crypto wallets.
The ministry posted a video showing agents raiding the office. Ministry officials are shown examining bundles of United States dollars, receipts, and computer equipment.
The video also shows officers questioning a male staff member, and asking what the business had been doing. The staff member replies:
“We didn’t do anything. We conducted crypto exchange transactions. And nothing else.”
The ministry said it also searched other offices and private apartments, where it seized “cash in various currencies,” as well as “communication devices, documents, and other items.”
Officers said they had charged a suspected “ringleader” ahead of a prosecution investigation.
Police said their own investigation was still ongoing as they attempted to identify more “accomplices.”
Officers added that the main
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