The $500M Crypto Laundering Scandal: How Lurii Gungnin’s Global Fraud Rocked the Market

Crypto's shadow economy just got a new poster child—and regulators are scrambling.

Lurii Gungnin didn't just dip a toe into financial crime. The mastermind orchestrated a half-billion-dollar laundering operation that slipped through the cracks of decentralized networks. Here's how it unfolded.

The playbook: Mixers, shells, and 'anonymous' chains

Gungnin's operation exploited every loophole crypto anarchists love—privacy coins, cross-chain swaps, and offshore shell companies. The result? A money trail colder than a Bitcoin miner's server room.

Regulators play whack-a-mole

While the SEC debates which meme coin to sue next, $500M vanished into the blockchain void. Compliance departments at major exchanges are now sweating through their polos.

One hedge fund manager quipped: 'At least traditional bankers launder with style—these crypto kids use Tornado Cash like it's a laundromat coupon.'

The takeaway? Web3's 'trustless' paradise has a fraud problem—and the fixes might just break the very system it promises to protect.

• A 38-year-old Russian is currently facing 22 charges due to the active role he played in carrying out wire fraud and money laundering.
• According to the DOJ, each of these charges carries up to 10-20 years imprisonment per crime.

Lurii Gungnin, a 38-year-old Russian, is currently facing 22 charges over wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.

According to the details shared by the DOJ, Gugnin was charged for operating an unlicensed business that transmitted money in and outside the country and failed to comply with the anti-money laundering regulations. He was also charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Gugnin Massive Crypto Fraud and How it Operated

The Department of Justice (DOJ) made a well-detailed analysis of how the crypto scheme operated. They shared that Gugnin was involved in helping different banks that have been sanctioned in Russia MOVE funds to the United States in order to avoid sanctions and export rules.

Basically, Gugnin acted as a middleman for these Russian banks. He helped them carry out financial activities in the US since they do not have the United States permission to operate.

From June 2023 to January 2025, Gugnin processed about $530 million worth of transactions through U.S. banks and Tether USDT. He received payments from different Russian banks like Sberbank, VTB, Sovcombank, and Tinkoff, and then he converted the money sent to USD using U.S.-based banks.

Gugnin went ahead and created a company and named it Evita. He used Evita to try and cover the traces of the money he laundered. He faked invoices and regulatory documents.

He even went as far as lying to financial institutions that his company followed the regulatory systems set up, but in truth, he went against the anti-laundering program that was set up and failed to report transactions.

As of this writing, Gugnin has been charged with 22 crimes, with possible charges running into 20 years of imprisonment per crime.