FSB Raids Moscow City Crypto Exchanges Accused of Laundering Stolen Cash
The FSB claimed Ukraine-based scam call centers used gray-market exchange offices in Moscow City to convert stolen cash into cryptocurrency and funnel it out of Russia.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Friday that it had conducted raids on illegal cryptocurrency exchanges located in Moscow City's financial district. The FSB, in collaboration with the country's Interior Ministry, targeted nine unauthorized financial channels that were accused of laundering money stolen from Russian citizens via phone fraud.
Ukraine-based scam call centers allegedly utilized gray-market exchange offices in Moscow City to convert the stolen cash into cryptocurrency and subsequently export it out of Russia. One of the arrested individuals claimed that up to $2 million was laundered through their Moscow City office daily. Some of the detainees reportedly admitted on camera that they believed they were working as undercover informants for the FSB or the country's financial watchdog, Rosfinmonitoring.
The FSB noted that the arrested individuals, aged between 18 to 25, were recruited from various Russian regions under the pretense of being undercover informants, despite having limited financial literacy. They were tasked with collecting cash from defrauded citizens and delivering it to the crypto exchanges. The Interior Ministry initiated a criminal investigation into large-scale fraud, a charge punishable by up to a decade in prison.
The FSB further emphasized that they are persisting in identifying victims to gather evidence and potentially recover damages.
Written by urgent.news from The Moscow Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
