Three Russians indicted for operating Bender.io and Sinbad.io, cryptocurrency mixing services used by North Korea and ransomware gangs
The US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has indicted three Russians for allegedly providing a 'cryptocurrency mixing service' that mixed cryptocurrency transactions between multiple users to increase the anonymity of the owners.
Office of Public Affairs | Operators of Cryptocurrency Mixers Charged with Money Laundering | United States Department of Justice
US government charges operators of crypto mixing service used by North Korea and ransomware gangs | TechCrunch
The three suspects indicted are Roman Vitalievich Ostapenko, Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik and Anton Vyaklavovich Tarasov. Tarasov remains at large, but the other two have been arrested as part of a joint investigation by the Netherlands, Finland and the United States.
According to the indictment, the suspects are accused of operating two websites, Blender.io and Sinbad.io, which offered cryptocurrency mixing services, and of helping criminals launder money.
Blender.io was a site that operated from 2018 to 2022 and was notable for its 'No Logs Policy.' The site was publicly available on the Internet and was used by criminals to hide funds obtained from cryptocurrency theft, ransomware attacks, and other crimes.
On May 6, 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it had shut down Blender.io due to North Korea's use of virtual currency for money laundering. Within a few months of Blender.io's closure, Sinbad.io, which offered the same service, appeared, but was shut down by OFAC on November 27, 2023.
Of the three suspects arrested and indicted as key suspects in the series, Ostapenko has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, while Oleynik and Tarasov have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. If convicted, they each face up to 20 years in prison for the money laundering conspiracy charge and up to five years in prison for the operating an unlicensed money transmitting business charge.
'Together with our international partners, we have successfully taken down Sinbad.io. However, we are not content to rest on our laurels. We are now finally identifying and holding accountable those responsible for the development of Sinbad.io,' said Acting Special Agent in Charge Sean Burke of the FBI's Atlanta field office. 'This indictment demonstrates the power of international cooperation.'
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