Garantex co-founder to be extradited to US on priority
In the last four years, Garantex has laundered millions of dollars in ransomware proceeds, including proceeds from ransomware groups like Black Basta, Play and Conti.
New Delhi: Lithuanian citizen and co-founder of Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, Aleksej Besciokov, will be extradited to the US on priority. CBI's international police cooperation unit (IPCU) is coordinating the legal procedures and a handover is likely to happen soon, sources said.
CBI had located the suspect and got an arrest warrant issued on March 10 on a request submitted by the US govt through the ministry of external affairs. The request had been placed under the Extradition Act. Besciokov will be produced before a court on Friday.
Last Friday, the US department of justice (DOJ) charged Besciokov, 46, and his Russian partner Aleksandr Mira Serda, 40, with a string of offences, including money laundering, connected to Garantex.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), sources said, is also verifying if Garantex received proceeds of crimes of cases being probed by the agency. In the last four years, Garantex has laundered millions of dollars in ransomware proceeds, including proceeds from ransomware groups like Black Basta, Play and Conti.
Besciokov was arrested from Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram, in a coordinated action by CBI and Kerala Police, shortly before he was to flee the country.
The US has demanded his extradition claiming that Besciokov was wanted by it for a number of charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation of Title 18 of the United States Code, conspiracy to violate the US International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money services business.
A CBI spokesperson said, "On a request submitted by the US, the ministry of external affairs, acting under the Extradition Act, 1962, got issued a provisional arrest warrant against the subject from ACJM Patiala House Court in Delhi." The DOJ has indicted Besciokov on multiple charges, including money laundering and sanctions violations. The DOJ's indictment said Besciokov went by the hacker handle "proforg".
