A few days ago, FinTelegram reported the arrest of a 29-year-old man in the Netherlands, who allegedly laundered money through the crypto blender Tornado Cash. The arrest was made on a warrant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The Russian Denis Mihaqlovic Dubnikov and accomplices are alleged to have laundered money from ransomware attacks. He was extradited from the Netherlands to the U.S.; a five-day jury trial is scheduled to begin on 4 Oct 2022.
According to court documents, Denis Dubnikov and his co-conspirators laundered the proceeds of ransomware attacks on individuals and organizations throughout the United States and abroad. Specifically, Dubnikov and his accomplices laundered ransom payments extracted from victims of the Ryuk ransomware attacks.
After receiving ransom payments, Ryuk actors, Dubnikov and his co-conspirators, and others involved in the scheme, allegedly engaged in various financial transactions, including international financial transactions, to conceal the nature, source, location, ownership, and control of the ransom proceeds.
While Dubnikov allegedly laundered more than $400,000 in Ryuk ransom proceeds in July 2019, the total scheme of which Dubnikov was part laundered at least $70 million in ransom proceeds. First identified in August 2018, Ryuk is a type of ransomware software that encrypts files and attempts to delete any system backups when executed on a computer or network.
Denis Dubnikov faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
