A fugitive at large, a billion-dollar crypto fraud, and a high-stakes arrest. Aleksej Besciokov, wanted by the U.S. for running an illicit cryptocurrency empire, was caught while vacationing in India. What happens next?
BY PC Bureau
In a major development, Indian authorities have arrested Aleksej Besciokov, a Lithuanian national accused of orchestrating a massive cryptocurrency fraud through his platform, Garantex. The arrest took place in Kerala as Besciokov allegedly attempted to flee the country.
Garantex, established by Besciokov, functioned as a cryptocurrency exchange platform. According to U.S. Secret Service documents, over nearly six years, Garantex facilitated approximately $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions. These transactions are alleged to have laundered proceeds from various criminal activities, including ransomware attacks, computer hacking, narcotics trafficking, and even operations linked to terrorist organizations.
The platform reportedly received hundreds of millions in criminal proceeds, serving as a conduit for crimes that had substantial impacts on U.S. victims. As the primary technical administrator, Besciokov was responsible for maintaining Garantex’s infrastructure and overseeing transactions.
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Legal Actions and Sanctions
In April 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Besciokov and his associate, Aleksandr Mira Serda, a Russian national, with multiple offenses related to their operations through Garantex. The charges against Besciokov include conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to violate the U.S. International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money services business. If convicted, Besciokov faces up to 45 years in prison, while Mira Serda could face up to 20 years.
Besciokov’s arrest occurred at Varkala Beach in Kerala, where he was reportedly vacationing with his family. The Ministry of External Affairs in India received a provisional arrest warrant from U.S. officials, prompting a coordinated effort between the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Kerala police to apprehend him. He is scheduled to appear in a Delhi court on March 14 to face charges related to his alleged criminal activities.
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Implications of the Arrest
This arrest underscores the international efforts to combat cryptocurrency-related crimes and the laundering of illicit funds through digital platforms. The case highlights the challenges authorities face in regulating and monitoring cryptocurrency exchanges that operate across borders, often beyond the reach of any single nation’s jurisdiction.
📢Update: Aleksej Besciokov, Lithuanian co-founder of #Crypto exchange #Garantex, has been arrested by the CBI in Kerala on charges of money laundering, sanctions breaches, and running an unlicensed exchange.#CoinPedia #CryptoNews #Blockchain #CryptoKingPin #CryptoMarket pic.twitter.com/Lb78pKU48s
— Coinpedia (@CoinpediaNews) March 13, 2025
The Garantex case serves as a stark reminder of the potential misuse of cryptocurrency platforms for illegal activities and the ongoing global efforts required to address these challenges effectively.
Sources Aleksej Besciokov, a Lithuanian national, is a central figure in a major cryptocurrency fraud case involving the Russian cryptocurrency exchange, Garantex. Established in 2019 in Moscow by co-founders Stanislav Drugalev and Sergey Mendeleev, Garantex operated primarily by exchanging Russian rubles for other currencies through cryptocurrency transactions. The platform became notorious for facilitating the laundering of proceeds from various criminal activities, including ransomware attacks, darknet marketplace transactions, and other cybercrimes.
Garantex’s Operations and Criminal Associations Garantex was implicated in processing substantial amounts of illicit funds. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Garantex in April 2022, labeling it a “ransomware-enabling virtual currency exchange.” Investigations revealed that approximately $100 million worth of transactions on the platform were associated with criminal entities, including
Russian ransomware groups like Conti and darknet markets such as Hydra.
The exchange’s operational model involved converting rubles into stablecoins, particularly Tether (USDT), which were then traded for other currencies abroad. This mechanism allowed users to circumvent international sanctions and facilitated the movement of funds across borders with minimal traceability. Despite the sanctions, Garantex continued to operate, serving as a primary channel for moving Russian money in and out of the country and being utilized by cybercriminals to launder their profits.
Recent Developments and Legal Actions
In March 2025, U.S. authorities seized Garantex’s web infrastructure as part of a major international law enforcement operation targeting cybercriminal networks. The Justice Department unsealed indictments against Besciokov and his associate, Aleksandr Mira Serda, accusing them of operating Garantex from 2019 to 2025 and facilitating money laundering activities for cybercriminals.
Concurrently, the European Union imposed sanctions on Garantex, accusing it of being closely associated with EU-sanctioned Russian banks and responsible for circumventing EU sanctions. Following these sanctions, Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, blocked digital wallets on Garantex’s platform holding more than 2.5 billion rubles (approximately $28 million), leading Garantex to suspend its operations temporarily.
The case of Garantex and Aleksej Besciokov underscores the challenges regulators and law enforcement agencies face in monitoring and controlling illicit activities facilitated by cryptocurrency exchanges. The platform’s ability to operate despite sanctions and its involvement in major money laundering activities highlight the need for robust international cooperation and regulatory frameworks to address the misuse of digital currencies in facilitating criminal enterprises.
