Russian Law enforcement officers have reportedly arrested the second co-founder of the seized cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato. The man, who only a few years ago promised to revive the platform’s operations from Russia, was taken into custody at the request of Interpol and may be extradited to France.
Another Co-Founder of Russia-Linked Bitzlato Exchange Arrested in Moscow
Anton Shkurenko, co-founder of Bitzlato, the recently discovered digital asset exchange, has been taken into custody in Moscow, according to a Russian Telegram Channel Baza report. As per the post published Tuesday, French investigators were on the hunt to locate the crypto entrepreneur. They had suspected him of data theft, extortion, and money laundering.
Better known in the Russian-speaking market, Bitzlato was taken offline in a global police operation in January. The coin trading platform is accused of processing more than $700 million in illicit funds from criminal entities such as Hydra and Russian crypto pyramid Finiko.
The Hong Kong-registered exchange was founded by Shkurenko and his partner Anatoly Legkodymov in 2017. It was used for a one year period as a trading robot (here referred to as BTC Banker) that enabled peer-to–peer transactions.
Legkodymov, a Russian citizen residing in China, was arrested in the US in Miami last month. An earlier report by Baza claims that he sold his stake in the company a few months ago. Shkurenko resigned as CEO to his associate.
The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) arrested three other Bitzlato employees, including the company’s current CEO, CFO, and marketing director. Additionally, a software administrator was apprehended in Spain and Cyprus. French police authorities took control of its website and servers.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that ransomware attacks, hacks, and scams were used to acquire criminal proceeds through Bitzlato. According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, the largest crypto exchange in the world, Binance, received almost $346 million in cryptocurrency.
Russian authorities have yet to decide whether to extradite Anton Shkurenko to France. This report is a classic. The news of his arrest came after he said last week, in an interview with a cryptocurrency YouTube channel, that the remaining Bitzlato team plans to move the business to Russia for withdrawals and operations relaunch.
Are there more arrests to come from the Bitzlato case? Do you think his co-founder will be handed over to France? Share your thoughts with us.
