10.06.2025 07:14
A 38-year-old Russian national, Iurii Gugnin, the founder of a U.S.-based cryptocurrency payments firm, faces serious federal charges in Brooklyn. He stands accused of orchestrating a vast money laundering scheme, allegedly funneling over half a billion dollars through a sophisticated network for sanctioned Russian banks and companies. This intricate operation, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, involved the movement of more than $530 million.
Gugnin, a Manhattan resident, was apprehended on Monday and immediately arraigned. A judge subsequently ordered his detention pending trial. The 22-count indictment details how Gugnin allegedly used two companies under his control, Evita Investments and Evita Pay, to obfuscate the origins, trajectory, and intended use of the laundered funds. Between June 2023 and January 2025, the indictment claims he cleverly employed a combination of traditional U.S. banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, predominantly utilizing Tether, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, to facilitate these illicit transactions.
The prosecution alleges Gugnin actively deceived banking institutions, systematically erased all indications of Russian involvement, and deployed shell companies to conceal the true nature of the transactions. His clientele, according to the indictment, included entities subject to U.S. sanctions, among them prominent Russian financial institutions like Sberbank, VTB Bank, Sovcombank, Tinkoff, and even Rosatom, Russia's state-owned nuclear energy corporation. These weren't random transactions; the indictment paints a picture of Gugnin facilitating transactions directly supporting the Kremlin's financial and technological infrastructure.
To bypass sanctions, Gugnin is accused of falsifying compliance documents, providing demonstrably false information to banks, and creating a web of deception through shell companies and manipulated records. Prosecutors contend he digitally altered over 80 invoices, meticulously removing all traces of Russian entities. The overarching goal, according to the indictment, was to seamlessly transfer funds through U.S. financial systems undetected. Furthermore, the indictment alleges Gugnin aided his Russian clients in acquiring restricted American technology, citing the instance of a server subject to anti-terrorism export controls ending up in Russian hands as a direct result of his operation.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen summarized the accusations, stating that Gugnin is charged with transforming his cryptocurrency company into a clandestine conduit for illicit funds, highlighting the gravity of the alleged offenses. The case underscores the challenges posed by cryptocurrency in combating international financial crime and the determination of U.S. authorities to disrupt such schemes. The information for this report was gathered from internet sources.
