The US law enforcement detained a crypto executive for doubts that he was helping the Ryuk ransomware gang launder money on a crypto exchange. According to the FBI, Denis Dubnikov, the co-founder of EggChange and Crypto Coyote, was detained in the Netherlands for laundering $400,000 profit through his account.
Denis Was Arrested on Vacation
Denis was arrested on November 2 during his attempted flight to Mexico for a vacation. He was denied entry to the country and was detained by the Dutch police. There was no official statement other than the one posted by Dubnikov himself.
The Russian cryptocurrency community was outraged, and several prominent people required an official response and condemnation of Dubnikov’s arrest.
At the moment, Dubnikov stands accused of money laundering. However, it’s unclear whether the amount of $400,000 in cryptocurrency was moved through Dubnikov’s account or the accounts that belong to one of the exchanges.
Still, this amount is small compared to the total of Ryuk funds. It is believed that this ransomware group extorted over $150 million from various victims and via multiple malware and ransomware actions.
This criminal group was first spotted in 2018. However, Ryuk is still operational today, while many other ransomware groups have been shut down.