Officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) took Lithuanian national Aleksej Bešciokov into custody because of his ownership of the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex. The authorities arrested Bešciokov during his family vacation in Kerala and before he left India to visit another country. The arrest happened after both national and state law enforcement partnered to execute legal action initiated from the United States.
CBI took action on US charges submitted on March 12 by following three criminal offenses: committing money laundering conspiracy, operating an unapproved money-transmitting business, and violating America’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The US government charged Bešciokov on February 27 through an indictment filed at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
CBI Arrests Garantex Founder
The US criminal charges state Bešciokov worked with Russian national Aleksandr Mira Serda and associates to run Garantex as a system for cleaning dirty money. Strong evidence reveals that since 2019 Garantex has acted as an exchange platform for cybercriminals to facilitate financial transactions related to ransomware, computer hacking, illegal drugs, and banned international trade deals. Under the Extradition Act of 1962 from India Bešciokov must submit to American justice.
Recent law enforcement actions led the authorities to take Garantex into custody. On March 6 Tether put its USDT frozen because it was linked to an exchange. Garantex decided to put all service functions on hold temporarily including any possibility of withdrawals. The US authorities impounded three Garantex domain names when they received official enforcement power from the court.
Since April 2022 the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has monitored Garantex for its sanctioned status. According to the Treasury report Garantex operated its platform with total disrespect for AML/CFT rules which let criminals misuse it. To stop Russia’s Ukraine invasion the EU placed economic restrictions against Garantex company in February 2024.
CBI Strengthens Crypto Oversight
When authorities arrested Bešciokov only his business partner and former Garantex CCO Aleksandr Mira Serda had not been located yet.No one really knows if Bešciokov will agree to be sent to US authorities for trial. Legal experts reference past experiences from Do Kwon’s extradition case to explain how prolonged legal challenges delayed his extradition from Montenegro to the United States until December 2024.
Sam Bankman-Fried experienced an extradition to the United States in December 2022 after serving as FTX CEO. Bankman-Fried received seven felony convictions and a prison sentence of 25 years but he now challenges his judgment.
Interpol’s steps against crypto fraud show that authorities across all nations unite to fight criminal economic activities in this industry. As law enforcement agencies worldwide join forces their efforts lead to strict action against crypto platforms linked to illegal business.
