Russia Frees Founders Of Bitzlato, Crypto Exchanges Suspected Of Money Laundering

Russia has released the founder of Biztlato. (Photo; Doc. Bitcoin News)

JAKARTA - Russian authorities released co-founder of crypto exchange Bitzlato, Anton Shkurenko, after detaining the founder for several days. Shurenko, who is said to be the target of an investigation by French authorities, denies allegations that Bitzlato has processed millions of US dollars in illegal funds.

Russian prosecutors are currently asking France to send material from its investigation into the confiscated crypto exchange, Bitzlato, to decide whether to start additional processes in Russia. Shurenko told crypto media that French authorities removed the Bitzlato website and set control of its servers during international law enforcement operations last month.

The US said that Bitzlato, which is registered in Hong Kong and is known to Russian traders, processed illegal funds of US$700 million between 2018 and 2022. Europol, which detained four members of the Bitzlato team, believes the exchange laundered more than US$1 billion and received most transfers from criminal entities such as the Hydra darknet market and crypto pyramid scheme Finiko.

Shurenko said that on February 7 he was approached by police officers in Moscow and taken to the Tver District Prosecutor's Office for questioning. He said he was innocent and determined to prove his innocence in this case.

"Based on my explanation, the prosecutor issued a non-detention order and they released me," Shurenko was quoted as saying by Forklog. He noted that authorities in France suspected him of committing crimes under 19 articles without elaborating.

"What this means for Russia's justice, I don't understand yet. Russia does not extradite its citizens," he said, adding that prosecutors wanted to analyze French material in this case to decide whether they should open another case at the Russian Federation.

According to a Bitcoin.com News report, Anton Shurenko reiterated that he denies all charges leveled at him. Last week, he announced in an interview that Bitzlato would restore operations from Russia. The potential risk of a Russian criminal case will not interfere with this plan, he assured now.