- Russian national arrested in Argentine money-laundering case.
- Authorities say North Korea’s Lazarus Group is involved.
- Federal Police seize millions in crypto.
Authorities in Argentina arrested a Russian national in a money-laundering case involving a multimillion-dollar operation based in the South American country, TRM Labs reported.
Argentine Federal Police seized millions of dollars in assets in an operation led by the San Isidro Specialized Fiscal Unit in Cybercrime Investigations and aided by TRM Labs.
The 29-year-old suspect accepted crypto proceeds from illicit actors, including North Korea’s Lazarus Group, child sexual abuse vendors and terrorist financiers, which he would then exchange for laundered crypto and fiat currency, the report said.
The lead prosecutors in the case and cybercrime experts were able to analyse and explain the complicated web of transactions by following different assets across multiple blockchains.
One local report said the suspect was essentially operating a financial institution from his apartment in Argentina.
Another local report said the suspect used a Telegram bot to exchange rubles, USDT, euros and dollars into Argentine pesos.
The Federal Police seized more than $120,000 worth of crypto during the arrest and another $15 million from properties the suspect controlled.
