The statement issued by the United States Department of Justice reads: “An alleged cryptocurrency money launderer was extradited this week from the Netherlands to the United States to face charges in the District of Oregon.”
The DOJ’s Office of International Affairs arranges for the extradition of an alleged Russian money launderer from the Netherlands for criminal proceedings in the District of Oregon.
In an official statement released by the DOJ, the Agency claims that a grand jury in Poland charged 29-year-old Russian citizen Denis Mihaqlovic Dubnikov with partaking in an international crypto laundering scheme.
The allegations on Denis state that his team of perpetrators was responsible for laundering funds from victims of the Ryuk ransomware attacks throughout the United States and overseas between August 2018 and August 2021.
Suspected to be operated by the Russian cybercriminal group WIZARD SPIDER, Ryuk is a ransomware software that first shuts down a system’s processes that might interfere with its malicious actions. After that, it encrypts all files on the targeted system’s drives and deletes system backups, making it impossible for the victim to retrieve their data.
Moreover, Denis and his co-conspirators made several financial transactions to hide their tracks and conceal the ransomed funds.
By July 2019, the Ryuk actors had laundered over $70M as ransom proceeds, with Denis alone responsible for laundering $400K of these funds.
Denis, however, was arrested by the Amsterdam authorities in November 2021 and had his first trial in the District of Oregon on August 17, where he pleaded “not guilty.” Lastly, a five-day trial is scheduled from October 4, and if found guilty, Denis could serve up to 20 years in prison, in addition to “three years supervised release and a fine of $500K.”
