New York man involved in Money Laundering over 500 million dollars! Accused of using a Crypto Assets company to launder money for Russian sanctioned banks.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that 38-year-old Russian citizen and New York resident Iurii Gugnin (also known as Iurii Mashukov or George Goognin) has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 22 counts for allegedly using his encryption currency company "Evita" to assist sanctioned Russian banks in transferring funds, involving an amount exceeding $530 million.
Money laundering using virtual currency platforms: From Russia to the US financial system
According to the prosecution documents, Gugnin, through its two companies established in the United States — Evita Investments Inc. and Evita Pay Inc., received Crypto Assets transferred by foreign clients, primarily stablecoin USDT, and laundered them in the U.S. financial system, ultimately exchanging them for U.S. dollars or other fiat currencies. These funds were paid through bank accounts located in Manhattan, with the sources deliberately obscured to conceal the actual trading counterparties and the use of the funds.
The involved banks and the virtual currency exchanges were defrauded.
To facilitate the smooth flow of funds, Gugnin provided false information to multiple banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, claiming that Evita had no dealings with Russian enterprises and was not involved in transactions with sanctioned entities. However, in reality, many of Gugnin's clients are from Russia, and the funds come from sanctioned banks, including:
Sberbank of Russia (PJSC Sberbank)
PJSC Sovcombank
VTB Bank (PJSC VTB Bank)
Tinkoff Bank (JSC Tinkoff Bank)
In addition, he personally holds accounts with JSC Alfa-Bank and Sberbank, and has transactions with these accounts during his time in the United States.
Assist in the procurement of sensitive technology: Export control technology flowing into Russian nuclear enterprises.
Gugnin not only laundered money but also helped foreign clients procure sensitive technologies and electronic equipment subject to U.S. export controls. Prosecutors pointed out that he assisted suppliers of the Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom in purchasing restricted server components, with funding coming from a supplier in Moscow. To conceal the identity of the Russian clients, he often modified the invoice content, digitally whitewashing the clients' names and addresses.
Many doubts: Knowing the law but breaking it, and even searching for "whether being investigated"
Gugnin is well aware of the illegality of his actions. He has conducted several online searches, such as:
"how to know if there is an investigation against you" (如何知道自己是否遭到調查)
"penalties for sanctions violations EU luxury goods" (punishments for selling luxury goods in the EU in violation of sanctions regulations)
He has also visited several web pages, including "Am I Being Investigated?" and "What Signs Indicate You Are Under Criminal Investigation?"
Refusal to comply with anti-money laundering regulations, suspected of falsifying license applications.
Gugnin claims that Evita has strict anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) mechanisms, but in reality, he has not submitted suspicious activity reports (SAR) as required by the Bank Secrecy Act, nor has he implemented any compliance programs. He even submitted false application documents to Florida, successfully obtaining a money transmitter license, and used this to entice Crypto Assets exchanges to collaborate with him.
Facing felony charges, the maximum sentence could be hundreds of years.
The 22 criminal charges currently facing Gugnin include:
Bank fraud (up to 30 years imprisonment for each offense)
Wire fraud, violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), money laundering, and conspiracy (up to 20 years for each charge)
Failure to implement effective anti-money laundering systems and failure to submit suspicious activity reports (up to 10 years for each)
Operating financial services without a license and conspiring to defraud the U.S. government (up to 5 years for each count)
The United States' campaign against the "sensitive technology outflow" continues to escalate.
This operation is led by the "Disruptive Technology Strike Force," a joint task force from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Commerce. The task force aims to prevent U.S. critical technologies from falling into the hands of hostile nations and to protect supply chain security. The U.S. Department of Justice emphasized: "Anyone attempting to circumvent sanctions and assist hostile nations in obtaining sensitive technology will ultimately face legal consequences."
This article reports that a New York man is involved in laundering over 500 million dollars! He is accused of using a Crypto Assets company to launder money for Russian sanctioned banks. It first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.
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New York man involved in Money Laundering over 500 million dollars! Accused of using a Crypto Assets company to launder money for Russian sanctioned banks.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that 38-year-old Russian citizen and New York resident Iurii Gugnin (also known as Iurii Mashukov or George Goognin) has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 22 counts for allegedly using his encryption currency company "Evita" to assist sanctioned Russian banks in transferring funds, involving an amount exceeding $530 million.
Money laundering using virtual currency platforms: From Russia to the US financial system
According to the prosecution documents, Gugnin, through its two companies established in the United States — Evita Investments Inc. and Evita Pay Inc., received Crypto Assets transferred by foreign clients, primarily stablecoin USDT, and laundered them in the U.S. financial system, ultimately exchanging them for U.S. dollars or other fiat currencies. These funds were paid through bank accounts located in Manhattan, with the sources deliberately obscured to conceal the actual trading counterparties and the use of the funds.
The involved banks and the virtual currency exchanges were defrauded.
To facilitate the smooth flow of funds, Gugnin provided false information to multiple banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, claiming that Evita had no dealings with Russian enterprises and was not involved in transactions with sanctioned entities. However, in reality, many of Gugnin's clients are from Russia, and the funds come from sanctioned banks, including:
Sberbank of Russia (PJSC Sberbank)
PJSC Sovcombank
VTB Bank (PJSC VTB Bank)
Tinkoff Bank (JSC Tinkoff Bank)
In addition, he personally holds accounts with JSC Alfa-Bank and Sberbank, and has transactions with these accounts during his time in the United States.
Assist in the procurement of sensitive technology: Export control technology flowing into Russian nuclear enterprises.
Gugnin not only laundered money but also helped foreign clients procure sensitive technologies and electronic equipment subject to U.S. export controls. Prosecutors pointed out that he assisted suppliers of the Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom in purchasing restricted server components, with funding coming from a supplier in Moscow. To conceal the identity of the Russian clients, he often modified the invoice content, digitally whitewashing the clients' names and addresses.
Many doubts: Knowing the law but breaking it, and even searching for "whether being investigated"
Gugnin is well aware of the illegality of his actions. He has conducted several online searches, such as:
"how to know if there is an investigation against you" (如何知道自己是否遭到調查)
"money laundering penalties US" (US money laundering penalties)
"penalties for sanctions violations EU luxury goods" (punishments for selling luxury goods in the EU in violation of sanctions regulations)
He has also visited several web pages, including "Am I Being Investigated?" and "What Signs Indicate You Are Under Criminal Investigation?"
Refusal to comply with anti-money laundering regulations, suspected of falsifying license applications.
Gugnin claims that Evita has strict anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) mechanisms, but in reality, he has not submitted suspicious activity reports (SAR) as required by the Bank Secrecy Act, nor has he implemented any compliance programs. He even submitted false application documents to Florida, successfully obtaining a money transmitter license, and used this to entice Crypto Assets exchanges to collaborate with him.
Facing felony charges, the maximum sentence could be hundreds of years.
The 22 criminal charges currently facing Gugnin include:
Bank fraud (up to 30 years imprisonment for each offense)
Wire fraud, violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), money laundering, and conspiracy (up to 20 years for each charge)
Failure to implement effective anti-money laundering systems and failure to submit suspicious activity reports (up to 10 years for each)
Operating financial services without a license and conspiring to defraud the U.S. government (up to 5 years for each count)
The United States' campaign against the "sensitive technology outflow" continues to escalate.
This operation is led by the "Disruptive Technology Strike Force," a joint task force from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Commerce. The task force aims to prevent U.S. critical technologies from falling into the hands of hostile nations and to protect supply chain security. The U.S. Department of Justice emphasized: "Anyone attempting to circumvent sanctions and assist hostile nations in obtaining sensitive technology will ultimately face legal consequences."
This article reports that a New York man is involved in laundering over 500 million dollars! He is accused of using a Crypto Assets company to launder money for Russian sanctioned banks. It first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.