Bitzlato Founder Denies US Charges
Anatoly Legkodymov, one of the founders and majority owner of the Russia-linked crypto exchange Bitzlato, made his first appearance in federal court in New York on Tuesday, according to the Law360 portal. He has been ordered held without bail in connection with allegations that he used the platform to launder millions of dollars in criminal proceeds, which he denies.
The Russian national, a Chinese resident, was apprehended by the FBI in Miami on January 17 and charged with unlicensed money transmission. The defendant was also charged with running a Hong Kong-registered exchange that failed to implement anti-money laundering safeguards and processed more than $700 million in illicit funds.
The funds are allegedly linked to a variety of criminal activities and actors, including ransomware groups and drug traffickers. Among them are Hydra, once the largest darknet market with Russian roots, which was shut down in April after its servers were seized in Germany, and Finiko, Russia’s largest crypto pyramid scheme.
(With inputs from Shikha Singh)
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