Russian Crypto Boss Nabbed in Half-Billion Dollar Money Maze—Regulators Finally Wake Up

Another day, another crypto scandal—except this one’s got a $530M price tag. The CEO of a shadowy Russian exchange just got slapped with laundering charges, proving once again that where there’s digital gold, there’s always someone digging tunnels to hide it.

The ‘Innovation’ Was Just Old-Fashioned Fraud

Turns out ‘disruptive finance’ sometimes means disrupting the law. Prosecutors allege the exec ran a textbook wash-trading scheme—pumping fake volume while allegedly funneling dirty cash through shell companies. Who needs blockchain transparency when you’ve got creative accounting?

Regulators Play Catch-Up (Again)

While bureaucrats were busy debating NFT art classifications, this operation allegedly moved half a billion unchecked. But hey—at least they caught it before the next bull run. Small victories.

One thing’s clear: Crypto’s wild west era isn’t over—it’s just getting better at paperwork. Maybe next time, try laundering with Monero.

Russian Sanctioned Sberbank, VTB Bank, Sovcombank, Tinkoff Were Evita’s Clients

Gugnin allegedly hid the source and purpose of transactions, prosecutors noted. Under the guise of crypto startup Evita, he served as a financial intermediary to sanctioned Russian entities through illicit transactions, FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge Raia, noted.

“Gugnin’s alleged scheme manipulated our nation’s financial infrastructure to benefit our nation’s adversaries.”

Furthermore, his clients included sanctioned Russian financial institutions, such as Sberbank, VTB Bank, Sovcombank, Tinkoff, and the state-owned energy company Rosatom.

Between June 2023 and January 2025, Gugnin used Evita to process over 80 invoices, digitally erasing the identities of Russian recipients. The accused purportedly routed funds using USDT and USDC stablecoins.

A WSJ article published last September, profiled Gugnin as one of the high-net-worth renters in Manhattan, paying $19,000 per month for an apartment.

Gugnin Knew He Was Breaking the Law

Per the DOJ, the accused was aware that he was breaking the law through various web searches, including queries like “how to know if there is an investigation against you” and “money laundering penalties US.”

He also reportedly visited pages like “am I being investigated?” and “what are the best ways to find out if you’re being investigated.”

Gugnin was arrested on Monday and if convicted, he WOULD face a jail term of up to 30 years on the bank fraud counts; 20 years for the wire fraud, money laundering; 10 years for failure to implement an effective AML program and 5 years for conspiracy to defraud the US financial system.