On February 6, in an Oregon, USA court, Russian citizen Denis Dubnikov pleaded guilty to a case involving money laundering for the Ryuk extortion group .
Dubnikov was arrested in November 2021 in the Netherlands and then extradited to the US in August last year. Along with 13 accomplices, he was accused of laundering funds from Ryuk ransomware attacks. Money has been laundered on a regular basis since 2018.
Ryuk ransomware first surfaced in August 2018 and has targeted a wide range of organizations for several years, including the media, hospitals, and schools. It is widely believed that the malware is a precursor to the Conti ransomware.
Dubnikov pleaded guilty to one count: conspiracy to launder money. Such a crime is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine, according to the Justice Department.
Dubnikov is specifically accused of receiving 35 bitcoins, part of a ransom paid to the attackers by a US company. At that time, in July 2019, 35 bitcoins were worth about $400,000. The cryptocurrency was converted into Tether coins and sent to Dubnikov’s accomplice, who then converted it into Chinese yuan.
Dubnikov is the co-founder of the Coyote Crypto and Eggchange cryptocurrency exchanges. According to Chainalysis , at least 11% of the funds received on the Eggchange platform from 2019 to 2021 were obtained illegally.
Source: https://www.securitylab.ru/
