A Russian national who runs a crypto exchange in Hong Kong was arrested Tuesday night in Miami. Prosecutors at the Justice Department said the crypto exchange, Bitzlato, processed over $700 million in illicit funds that were made from crimes including ransomware and drug trafficking.
Now the firm’s majority shareholder, Anatoly Legkodymov, is charged with conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business and faces five years in prison.
“Operating off shore or moving your servers out of the continental U.S. will not shield you. And whether you break our laws from China or Europe – or abuse our financial system from a tropical island – you can expect to answer for your crimes inside a United States courtroom,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said.
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