A federal grand jury in Georgia has indicted three Russian nationals for their alleged roles in operating cryptocurrency mixing services used to launder illicit funds, including proceeds from ransomware attacks and other cybercrimes.
Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko, 55, and Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik, 44, were arrested on December 1st, 2024, while the third defendant, Anton Vyachlavovich Tarasov, 32, remains at large.
The indictment alleges that the defendants operated two cryptocurrency “mixers,” Blender.io and Sinbad.io, which were designed to obfuscate the source of cryptocurrency transactions, making it easier for criminals to launder their ill-gotten gains.
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“According to the indictment, the defendants operated cryptocurrency ‘mixers’ that served as safe havens for laundering criminally derived funds, including the proceeds of ransomware and wire fraud,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent S. Wible, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “By allegedly operating these mixers, the defendants made it easier for state-sponsored hacking groups and other cybercriminals to profit from offenses that jeopardized both public safety and national security. The indictment and arrests announced today, which follow the earlier takedown of the defendants’ criminal infrastructure, yet again demonstrate the value of our international partnerships in countering the global threat from cybercrime.”
The arrests and indictments follow a coordinated law enforcement action in 2023 that involved the Netherlands’ Financial Intelligence and Investigative Service, Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, and the FBI, which resulted in the seizure of Sinbad.io’s online infrastructure.
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“This indictment demonstrates our continued commitment to dismantling infrastructure used by cybercriminals to steal from Americans and hide their ill-gotten gains,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia.
Blender.io and Sinbad.io were online services that allowed users to send cryptocurrency to designated recipients in a way that obscured the origin of the funds. This made them attractive tools for criminals seeking to launder money obtained through illegal activities like ransomware attacks, cryptocurrency thefts, and other cybercrimes.
Blender.io operated from 2018 to 2022 and advertised a “no logs policy,” claiming to delete all traces of user transactions. Sinbad.io, which launched after Blender.io shut down, offered similar services until it was taken down in 2023.
Both Blender.io and Sinbad.io have been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for their use in laundering stolen virtual currency and facilitating ransomware attacks.
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The defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. If convicted, they could each face up to 20 years in prison for the money laundering conspiracy count and five years for each unlicensed money transmitting business count.
The FBI is investigating the case, with significant assistance from international partners, including the Netherlands’ Public Prosecution Service and Fiscal Information and Investigative Service, the Australian Federal Police, and Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation.
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