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Indian authorities have arrested Russian citizen Alexey Beschiokov (according to other sources, Beshchekov) at the request of US intelligence agencies. He is accused of laundering $96 billion through the Garantex crypto exchange, as well as transferring money to the Hamas terrorist group.

Garantex provided money laundering for terrorist organizations, drug dealers, and cybercriminals. In 2022, the US and the EU imposed sanctions on this crypto exchange. In recent months, US intelligence agencies, in cooperation with several European countries, have stepped up the prosecution of Garantex and its administrator Beschiokov.

The arrest occurred less than a week after the US Department of Justice published an indictment against Beschiokov and Russian Alexander Mira Serda. According to this document, Beschiokov was responsible for maintaining the operation of Garantex and its infrastructure, and Mira Serda was a co-founder and commercial director.

Some sources claim that the crypto exchange is linked to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service
The prosecution alleges that between 2015 and 2029, $96 billion passed through Garantex, some of which was transferred through American banks, violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws. After the sanctions were imposed, Beschiokov and his accomplices changed their operating schemes to circumvent restrictions and covertly cooperate with American companies.

On March 6, the U.S. Secret Service blocked three domains that supported Garantex and froze more than $26 million in cryptocurrency transactions. In a coordinated effort, law enforcement agencies in Germany and Finland seized servers that hosted Garantex’s operations, and the FBI obtained copies of them, including customer and accounting databases.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Garantex was used to finance hacking attacks, ransomware, terrorism, and drug trafficking, with serious consequences for American citizens. The prosecution alleges that Beschiokov and Mira Serda were aware of the criminal nature of the transactions and took steps to conceal them. They are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Beschiokov is also charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (another 20 years in prison) and operating an unlicensed money transfer business (up to 5 years in prison).

Israeli intelligence agencies previously found that Hamas was receiving millions of dollars through Garantex. Some sources claim that the crypto exchange is linked to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service.

According to the US Department of Justice, Garantex was used to finance hacker attacks, ransomware, terrorism, and drug trafficking, which had serious consequences for American citizens
According to Russian media, Beschiokov left Moscow in February for India with his wife Yulia (who worked for the consulting company WillMore, a Microsoft partner) and their minor son. The family lived in Moscow, but regularly spent the winter in India. This year, they rented a house in the suburbs of Trivandrum (the capital of the state of Kerala).

In January, Beschiokov’s friend was the first to arrive there, but she was deported to Moscow due to past visa violations. After that, the couple tried to find out if they were banned from entering, but were assured that they could travel freely. In February, they flew to India, and a month later they were supposed to return to Russia.

However, the flight took place strangely: Beschiokov’s wife and son left on March 11, and he himself was detained at the airport before boarding a flight to Moscow.

A decision on his extradition to the United States is expected on March 17. American authorities said that the arrest was made at their request, since Beschiokov was trying to escape. US Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Oxman confirmed the detention, but declined to comment further.