Prosecutors in Philadelphia indicted two men on Wednesday for running an international bitcoin and crypto money laundering operation that laundered $400 million over five years, part of an international crackdown that ended the group’s operations on several continents.
Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk, 37, of Ukraine, and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev, 25, of Russian origin, were arrested in Batumi, Republic of Georgia, where both men live. according to to US Attorney David Metcalf for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Each faces one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of money laundering – charges that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors say the two men were executives of an organization calling itself “AudiA6,” which operated a cryptocurrency exchange and controlled a cybercrime forum known as Dark2Web, where users can negotiate online services for payment. Since its launch in 2021,
$389 million in bitcoin
AudiA6 received about 10,333 Bitcoin – worth about $ 389.7 million at the time of the event – in its pockets, earning at least $ 10 million by paying customers up to 5% of the event.
Of the money, about 393 Bitcoin, worth about $19.2 million, was traced directly to well-known darknet markets, ransomware groups, and other illegal sources, with additional money coming directly from criminals.
Although the AudiA6 promises to customers that mixed income can be untraceable, researchers said analysis of the blockchain showed the exit can be traced directly through exchange records.
story, slightly built of six undercover operations that took place between December 2022 and May 2026, showed FBI and Secret Service agents posing as criminals looking to launder the proceeds of corruption and drug trafficking.
In one exchange, an AudiA6 user responded to an agent asking if the stolen Bitcoin was legit by saying, “don’t care.” Another, when asked if selling drugs poses a serious threat, the user replied, “Anything like that has to go through the mixer.”
The arrest was part of an international cooperation involving the US Secret Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Europol, Eurojust, and law enforcement partners from Australia, Canada, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Poland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Authorities searched three properties, seized digital assets, froze cryptocurrency assets, blocked Telegram accounts, and infiltrated the AudiA6 and Dark2Web websites and posted extortion banners.
The US Attorney’s Office said it would request that Tkachuk and Ledenev be extradited to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Benjamin D. Traster and Sima Kazmir.
