US imposed sanctions against two Russians for stealing $ 16.8 million of cryptocurrency

The US Treasury explained the inclusion of Dmitry Karasavidi and Danila Potekhin in the sanctions list by participation ina phishing campaign in 2017 and 2018 aimed at American citizens.

Department for Control over Foreign Assets(OFAC) The US Treasury Department has filed charges against two Russians. OFAC claims they embezzled over $ 16.8 million in cryptocurrency by defrauding customers of three unnamed crypto exchanges. Dmitry Karasavidi and Danila Potekhin have been added to the sanctions list for cybersecurity crimes, the agency's website says.

According to the US Treasury Department, Karasavidi is a Muscovite,was born in 1985. Potekhin is also known as Sergey Kireev and under the nickname cronuswar, a native of Voronezh born in 1995. In the identification information for Russians on the agency's website, in addition to standard data on the place of residence and passport numbers, the data of cryptocurrency wallets are indicated. There is no other information in the public domain about the Russians.

“The individuals who ran this scheme defrauded American citizens, businesses and others by stealing virtual currency from their accounts,” Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said.

The Ministry of Finance explained the inclusion of Russians in the sanctionslist of participating in a phishing campaign in 2017 and 2018. OFAC claims that Potekhin registered domains similar to crypto-exchange addresses. Users entered their details, which were then used to steal funds. Karasavidi was involved in laundering money obtained by criminal means. The United States has included addresses in the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, Litecoin, Zcash, Dash, Bitcoin Gold and Etheerum Classic blockchains in the sanctions lists.

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