3 days ago
US arrests Russian entrepreneur for restricted technology purchases
A Russian businessman has been detained in the United States for purchasing American technology. US prosecutors have accused cryptocurrency entrepreneur, Yuri Gugnin, of laundering over US$500 million and aiding in Russia's pursuit of acquiring sensitive American technology.
Source: Financial Times
Details: The founder of Florida-listed payment company Evita Pay and a Delaware company called Evita Investments has been charged with bank fraud, money laundering and other crimes. The Department of Justice reported that he was arrested in New York.
Prosecutors say Gugnin made payments for foreign customers towards US electronics subject to export controls and for parts on behalf of the Russian state nuclear technology company Rosatom.
Investigators note that Gugnin came to the United States in 2022 and organised a money-laundering operation under the guise of launching a cryptocurrency. He then used this cryptocurrency to evade sanctions and export controls, deceiving US financial institutions. Prosecutors state that he was accused of "turning a cryptocurrency company into a covert pipeline for dirty money".
Gugnin laundered cryptocurrency customers' funds through cryptocurrency wallets and US bank accounts, converting funds into US dollars or other currencies. Prosecutors say he facilitated nearly US$2 billion in transactions and that many of his clients were in Russia and held funds in Russian banks under sanctions. Other customers were in China and the United Arab Emirates.
According to the investigation, the entrepreneur made payments for Iwu Vortex Import and Export Co Limited, a Hong Kong distributor which the United States imposed sanctions against last year, accusing it of illegally exporting marine equipment to Russia.
Court documents describe a deal in which a South Korean group agreed to provide Moscow with parts and equipment that it then supplied to the Russian state-owned company Rosatom.
Gugnin is also accused of facilitating a Russian client's purchase of a server manufactured by a US technology company; exporting the technology to Russia without a licence is illegal.
Prosecutors said Gugnin had ties to government officials in Russia and Iran that could help facilitate his escape from prosecution, including members of Russian intelligence services. The maximum sentence that a suspect can receive is 30 years in prison.
Background:
Earlier, it was reported that a court in New York sentenced the founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency platform Celsius Network LLC – a native of Ukraine, Alex Mashinsky – to 12 years in prison.
He was found guilty of fraud with goods and securities. Celsius went bankrupt in July 2022, and Celsius customers lost access to assets worth $4.7 billion. The founder himself managed to withdraw $8 million.
Earlier, the US Department of Justice accused two top managers of the American company Eleview International Inc. of exporting technologies subject to sanctions to Russia for US$6.4 million.
It is noted that Oleg Nayandin and Vitaly Borisenko entered into a conspiracy and developed three schemes to circumvent export restrictions imposed on Russia, transporting American goods and technologies through Kazakhstan, Türkiye and Finland.
A German court launched criminal proceedings against two former executives of engineering giant Siemens who are accused of violating sanctions by helping to export gas turbines to Russian-occupied Crimea.
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