The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has reimposed sanctions on cryptocurrency exchange Garantex Europe and added its alleged successor, Grinex, to the blacklist, along with three executives and six associated companies in Russia and the Kyrgyz Republic.
OFAC said on Thursday the measures follow evidence that Garantex processed more than $100 million in illicit transactions since 2019, including payments linked to ransomware attacks and other cybercrime.
“Abusing cryptocurrency exchanges to launder money and support ransomware activity threatens US national security and damages the standing of legitimate service providers,” said John Hurley, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
The redesignation also lists wallet addresses for Bitcoin, Ether and Tron tied to the sanctioned entities.
Garantex was first sanctioned in 2022 for “willfully” ignoring anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules. US authorities allege that company officers created Grinex to sidestep enforcement actions, which included seizing $26 million in crypto, taking down Garantex’s website, and indicting two executives.
The Justice Department unsealed charges in March against Aleksandr Mira Serda and Aleksej Besciokov for money laundering, sanctions violations, and running an unlicensed money services business. Besciokov was arrested while on holiday in India. Serda remains at large, with US authorities offering up to $6 million for information leading to his capture or that of other Garantex executives.
On Aug. 6, a US court in Virginia issued a corrected arrest warrant for Serda.
Analytics firm Global Ledger claimed in April that it has gathered conclusive evidence linking Grinex to Garantex, pointing to the same operational infrastructure being used by both exchanges. The new platform is said to be operating out of Russia, continuing the financial activities of its predecessor despite previous shutdowns.
U.S. Department of Justice, along with authorities in Germany and Finland, froze several domains associated with Garantex. Global Ledger’s report reveals that Garantex moved liquidity and customer deposits to Grinex, which is now using a ruble-backed stablecoin, A7A5, launched by Promsvyazbank.
The move was part of a broader clampdown on entities believed to be assisting Russian nationals in evading international sanctions through the use of cryptocurrencies. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced penalties against 13 organizations and two individuals for such activities.
