Indian authorities have arrested Lithuanian national Aleksej Besciokov, co-founder of the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, which has been sanctioned by both the European Union and the United States. The arrest was carried out by the Kerala state police in the coastal town of Varkala under India’s extradition law and was confirmed by state police officials.
Indian authorities later issued a statement confirming that the arrest was made at the request of the U.S. government, citing Besciokov’s alleged plans to flee the country. Following his detention, Besciokov was presented before a local court and is scheduled to be transferred to the Patiala House Court in New Delhi on Monday, reports TechCrunch.
Besciokov’s arrest follows criminal charges filed against him by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) last week. He is accused of personally approving transactions on Garantex linked to cyber criminals, including North Korea-backed hackers. U.S. prosecutors allege that Besciokov and his co-founder, Russian national Aleksandr Mira Serda, deliberately structured Garantex’s operations to circumvent U.S. sanctions, enabling illicit financial activities.
The U.S. Secret Service has since taken control of Garantex’s websites, and authorities have frozen over $26 million in cryptocurrency assets linked to the exchange.
Garantex, which has been forced to suspend its operations, has responded to the developments with a press release stating its intent to compensate affected users. The company asserted that it is exploring a procedure similar to financial institution rehabilitation in Russia to reimburse users for blocked assets.
Despite U.S. and EU sanctions, Garantex continued to operate within Russia and the US government accused the exchange of facilitating money laundering and helping cybercriminals evade detection.
With Besciokov now in Indian custody, his potential extradition to the United States will be closely watched.
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