At US request, India arrests crypto administrator accused of money laundering

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Indian authorities arrested at Washington's request a cryptocurrency exchange administrator accused of money laundering conspiracy and violating sanctions, India's top crime fighting bureau said on Wednesday.

The United States, Germany and Finland took down the online infrastructure used by the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, the U.S. Justice Department said last week, adding that two administrators of the exchange were charged.

One of those administrators was Aleksej Besciokov, a Russian resident and Lithuanian national who was charged with money laundering and also faced accusations of violating sanctions and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, the Justice Department said on Friday.

Besciokov was arrested in the southern Indian state of Kerala, India's Central Bureau of Investigation said, adding he was wanted by U.S. authorities. The CBI said that at Washington's request, India's foreign ministry had a provisional arrest warrant issued.

It added Besciokov was planning to flee India. It was not immediately clear why he was in India. Washington is expected to pursue Besciokov's extradition. His representative could not immediately be reached.

"I can confirm Aleksej Besciokov, one of the administrators of Garantex, was arrested in India at the request of the United States," a U.S. Justice Department spokesperson told CNN.

The exchange has processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since April 2019, the U.S. Justice Department said last week.

Garantex was sanctioned by the U.S. in April 2022.

Blockchain research company TRM Labs said in a blog post last week that the takedown of Garantex "marks a major milestone in the fight against illicit finance" but cautioned that sanctioned exchanges often attempt to evade restrictions by creating new entities.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Stephen Coates)