Indian police arrested Garantex’s co -founder, a Russian encryption exchange ratified by the European Union and the US Government, in accordance with India’s law, TechCrunch has learned and confirmed exclusively with state authorities.
At 4 pm Local time (3:30 am PT) on Tuesday, Kerala’s state police arrested the Lithuanian National Aleksej Besciokov in the coastal municipality of Varkala, a state official who arrested the TechCrunch.
The police officer said the Patiala House court in New Delhi issued the arrest warrant against Besciokov.
Last week, the US Ministry of Justice accused Besciokov of personally approved transactions at Garantex associated with Hackers of North Korea-Governors and other cyberspace, charging criminal Besciokov to facilitate money laundering.
A police official refused to say whether the arrest was the result of Besciokov’s indictment in the United States. However, since the Indian authorities have said that the law on issuing the country is a clear indication that Besciokov is not desirable for crimes in India.
Shortly after the arrest, Besciokov was produced before the local court in the area and will be transferred to the Patiala court on Monday to face the charges, a police official told TechCrunch.
Details of the issuance fees were not immediately public. Krebersecurity first mentioned The arrest of Besciokov on Tuesday.
Garantex did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comments on the arrest of Besciokov.
DOJ, FBI and Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
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Besciokov was charged with Russian national Aleksandr Mira Serda, who founded Garantex and living in the United Arab Emirates.
The two administrators, according to US prosecutors, “were redesigned by Garantex’s operations to avoid and violate US sanctions and force US businesses to deal with Garantex in violation of sanctions.”
Last week, the US Secret Service occupied Garantex’s websites after the Justice Ministry sends its indictment against Besciokov and Serda. US authorities also frozen more than $ 26 million in encryption.
Since then, Garantex has suspended its activities and called on customers to “meet face -to -face” in her office in the Russian capital of Moscow, having come with an indefinite “solution for blocked assets”.
On Tuesday, Garantex sent TechCrunch a press release saying that “despite the unprecedented nature of the situation, Garantex does not abandon its obligations to its users and intends to fully offset the blocked assets of users at the expense Financial Institutions ”.
“Garantex’s activities will stop after the rehabilitation process is completed, with the exception of the compliance department,” the press release said.
