How a Russian national allegedly laundered $530M in crypto via Tether

Iurii Gugnin allegedly used fake documents to bypass sanctions and launder $530 million for Russian clients. In the process, he deceived US banks.

• Iurii Gugnin allegedly used his crypto firm to move $530 million through US banks and crypto exchanges using Tether (USDT), facilitating payments for Russian clients tied to sanctioned banks.

• Gugnin allegedly failed to implement AML regulations and didn’t file suspicious activity reports (SARs), violating the Bank Secrecy Act and misleading financial institutions.

• Gugnin also reportedly accessed websites that provided information on indicators of criminal investigation and methods for detecting law enforcement surveillance.

• Gugnin faces 22 criminal counts, including wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering, with potential penalties of up to 30 years per charge. 

• The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged Iurii Gugnin, also known as George Goognin and Iurii Mashukov, a Russian national residing in New York, with 22 criminal counts in a sweeping case that underscores the growing challenges of regulating cryptocurrency markets. Gugnin is accused of laundering more than $530 million through his cryptocurrency companies, Evita Investments and Evita Pay, while facilitating transactions for sanctioned Russian entities.