Russian Crypto Businessman Faces Decades In Prison In US
7- 10.06.2025, 19:16
- 3,358
The court brought 22 charges against Yuri Gunin.
The US Attorney General's Office has filed charges against Russian businessman Yuri Gugnin, owner of the cryptocurrency company Evita. The businessman is accused of laundering more than $500 million and helping Russian banks circumvent U.S. sanctions. Gugnin was arrested and appeared in a New York court.
The case file shows that the Russian businessman is charged with 22 counts, including bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the country's authorities, violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), as well as conducting an illegal financial transfer business and money laundering.
The U.S. Deputy Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said that the defendant is executing an indictment against him for money laundering. According to investigators, he converted funds into dollars and made payments through Manhattan bank accounts, concealing the sources and purposes of the transactions. Between June 2023 and January 2025, approximately $530 million was allegedly transferred through the U.S. financial system primarily using the Tether stablecoin.
The prosecution also alleges that the businessman misled banks and cryptocurrency exchanges by claiming to have no dealings with Russian companies, while many of his clients were located in Russia, including banks such as Sberbank, Sovcombank, VTB and Tinkoff Bank. According to investigators, Gugnin personally used accounts at Alfa Bank and Sberbank for transactions while in the United States, helped clients purchase controlled electronics and laundered money for a Moscow-based supplier of components for Rosatom by falsifying documents.
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Nocella Jr. said Gugnin came to the United States and, under the guise of a cryptocurrency startup, organized a scheme to launder money, evade sanctions and defraud financial institutions.
The investigation has evidence that the entrepreneur was aware of the illegality of his actions, as evidenced by his internet inquiries regarding criminal investigations, penalties for money laundering and sanctions violations.
If Gugnin is convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison for each count of bank fraud, up to 20 years for wire fraud, IEEPA violations and money laundering, up to 10 years for noncompliance with anti-money laundering penalties and up to five years for conspiracy to defraud the United States.
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