A crypto CEO is accused of laundering $500 million to aid sanctioned Russian banks
Gugnin, the CEO of Evita Pay, is accused by the DOJ of processing Tether stablecoin transactions.
The complaint said Gugnin used his company to "help Russian end-users acquire sensitive US technology."
The US Department of Justice charged the CEO of a cryptocurrency company with a money laundering scheme that helped clients with ties to Russian banks evade sanctions.
An announcement from the department on Monday said that Iurii Gugnin, the CEO of Evita Pay, funneled $530 million of foreign payments through banks and crypto exchanges while concealing the purpose and the source of the transactions.
"The defendant is charged with turning a cryptocurrency company into a covert pipeline for dirty money, moving over half a billion dollars through the U.S. financial system to aid sanctioned Russian banks and help Russian end-users acquire sensitive U.S. technology," John A. Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, said.
The scheme ran from June 2023 to January 2025, and involved processing payments of Tether — one of the biggest dollar-denominated stablecoins — for Russian clients linked to blacklisted banks including VTB and Sberbank.
"To effectuate the scheme, Gugnin defrauded various banks and cryptocurrency exchanges through which he converted funds and made wire transfers," the DOJ statement said. "Gugnin repeatedly lied to these banks and exchanges, telling them that Evita did not conduct business with entities in Russia and did not deal with sanctioned entities."
Gugnin was arrested in Manhattan on Monday and faces 22 counts related to wire and bank fraud, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering compliance program.
The DOJ statement also says Gugnin's internet search queries included things like "how to know if there is an investigation against you," and "money laundering penalties US."
If convicted, Gugnin could face life in prison, with a maximum of 30 years for each count of banks fraud, 20 years for each count of wire fraud, and 10 years for failing to implement anti-money laundering practices.
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