US federal prosecutors are expected to charge two Russian men accused of operating billion-dollar money-laundering services and to seize websites associated with illicit crypto exchanges as part of a major US crackdown on Russian cybercrime, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
One of the men is one of the longest-running professional money-launderers known to US law enforcement, the sources said. Neither Russian man is in US custody, and the State Department is offering $10 million for information leading to their arrest or conviction. The Treasury Department is also expected to announce sanctions on at least one of the men, the sources said.
The two men are accused of helping run “carding” websites that sell stolen credit and debit card information. The sites have advertised financial information stolen from tens of millions of Americans, the sources said. In addition, millions of dollars in ransomware payments and darknet drug sales have alleged flowed through crypto accounts linked to one of the man’s services.
The action comes as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday in Washington, DC. Zelensky is expected to make an urgent plea for more US support against Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Biden alluded to the crackdown on the alleged Russian cybercriminals in a statement Thursday that said the US had “taken action today to disrupt a global cryptocurrency network, in coordination with international partners.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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