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Indian police have arrested the Colorado - founder of Garantex , a Russian cryptocurrency exchange sanctioned by the European Union and the U.S. government , under India ’s extradition natural law , TechCrunch has exclusively learned and substantiate with commonwealth assurance .
At 4 p.m. local time ( 3:30 a.m. PT ) on Tuesday , the state police of Kerala arrested Lithuanian interior Aleksej Besciokov in the coastal municipality of Varkala , a state police force official who made the taking into custody confirmed to TechCrunch .
The police official said the Patiala House Court in New Delhi issue the arrest endorsement against Besciokov .
Last week , the U.S. Department of Justice accuse Besciokovof personally approving dealing on Garantex connect to North Korea - governing cyberpunk and other cybercriminals , reprehensively charge Besciokov for facilitate money laundering on the crypto commutation .
Native American government officials confirmed Besciokov ’s collar in a financial statement later on Wednesday . The statement read that Native American police sought an stoppage warrant for Besciokov at the request of the U.S. politics , and that Besciokov was planning to flee India .
In a abbreviated statement share with TechCrunch , U.S. Justice Department interpreter Nicole Oxman sustain that Besciokov was “ arrested in India at the asking of the United States , ” and declined to gloss further .
Shortly after the arrest , Besciokov was produced before the local tribunal in the district , and will be take to the Patiala Court on Monday to face the charges , the police functionary secern TechCrunch .
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KrebsonSecurityfirst reportedBesciokov ’s catch on Tuesday . Garantex did not respond to TechCrunch ’s request for comment about Besciokov ’s hitch .
Besciokov was indicted along with Russian national Aleksandr Mira Serda , who co - founded Garantex and dwell in the United Arab Emirates .
The two administrator , harmonize to U.S. prosecutors , “ redesigned Garantex ’s operation to evade and profane U.S. sanctions and induce U.S. business to unwittingly transact with Garantex in usurpation of the sanctions . ”
Last week , the U.S. Secret Serviceseized Garantex ’s websitesafter the Justice Department unseal itsindictment againstBesciokov andSerda . U.S. authorities also froze more than $ 26 million in cryptocurrency .
Since then , Garantex has suspended its operations , andinvited customer to “ face - to - face meetings”at its post in the Russian cap Moscow after come up with an unspecified “ solution for out of use asset . ”
On Tuesday , Garantex sent TechCrunch a pressure release suppose that “ despite the unprecedented nature of the post , Garantex is not abandoning its obligations to its users and intends to to the full even off for the block substance abuser assets at the disbursement of its survive assets in Russian Federation soil through a procedure like to the financial creation renewal subroutine . ”
“ Garantex ’s activities will cease after the renewal procedure is dispatch , with the elision of the compliancy section , ” the press dismission states .
update with a statement from the Native American government and the U.S. Department of Justice confirming Besciokov ’s stop in India .
