PHILADELPHIA, PA — Federal prosecutors have charged two men accused of operating a cryptocurrency money-laundering service that investigators allege processed more than $389 million in digital assets linked in part to cybercrime and other illicit activity.
U.S. Attorney David Metcalf announced that Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk, 37, and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev, 25, were arrested Wednesday and charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and sting money laundering.
According to the complaint, Tkachuk, a Ukrainian national, and Ledenev, a Russian national, allegedly operated “AudiA6,” a cryptocurrency laundering service that investigators say was designed to conceal the origins of digital assets tied to criminal activity. Prosecutors allege the defendants also managed the Dark2Web cybercrime forum, where AudiA6 advertised its services.
Authorities said the arrests were part of a coordinated international operation involving the U.S. Secret Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Europol, Eurojust, and law enforcement agencies in multiple countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Poland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
According to investigators, the operation included searches of three properties, the seizure or disruption of servers and domains in several countries, the blocking of Telegram accounts allegedly used by the network, the freezing of cryptocurrency assets, and the seizure of digital devices. Law enforcement also replaced the websites associated with AudiA6 and the Dark2Web forum with seizure notices.
The criminal complaint alleges that AudiA6 openly marketed services designed to obscure the source of cryptocurrency for customers in exchange for fees of up to 5% of the funds involved.
Federal investigators reported that blockchain analysis identified approximately 10,333 bitcoin, valued at roughly $389.7 million at the time of the transactions, as having been deposited into AudiA6-controlled wallets since the service launched in 2021. According to the complaint, approximately 393 bitcoin, worth about $19.2 million at the time of the transactions, allegedly originated directly from known darknet markets, ransomware groups, cybercrime services, and other illicit sources.
Tkachuk and Ledenev are currently in the custody of Georgian authorities. Prosecutors said the United States will seek their extradition to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin D. Traster and Sima Kazmir, along with Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Lorenz.
All suspects, arrestees, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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