38-year-old citizen of Russia Yuri Gugnin, who founded the Crypto company Evita, was detained in New York. He was charged with going around sanctions and laundering more than $ 530 million through cryptocurrencies.

According to the press release of the US Department of Justice, Gugnin is accused of fraud using electronic means of communication and conducting illegal banking operations, violation of US sanctions and the rules for combating money laundering (AML), the management of an unlicensed money transfer business and non-provision of reports on suspicious activities.

The prosecutor’s office claims that through the company GNITA – Evita Investments and Evita Pay – foreign clients who kept money in suction Russian banks provided him with funds that he then laundered through cryptocurrencies and moved to accounts in US banks.

Gugnin converted these funds into dollars and other fiat currencies, and then made payments through bank accounts in Manhattan on behalf of his foreign customers. At the same time, the sources of the origin of funds were hidden, as well as counterparties in transactions. In the period from June 2023 to January 2025, Gugnin “drove away” through Evita about $ 530 million, most of which he received in the form of USDT stabilcoins.

The Ministry of Justice said that Gugnin repeatedly deceived banks and exchanges, making false allegations that Evita did not conduct business with Russian subjects. However, many Cognin clients were in Russia and used the services of Sberbank, Sberbank, VTB, and Tinkoff’s Sberbank’s Sberbank. Gugnin himself also had accounts in Alfa-Bank and Sberbank, which were under sanctions-he made transactions with them while in the United States. In addition, Gugnin helped foreign clients purchase electronics with export restrictions, as well as purchase equipment for the Russian State Technological Company “Rosatom”.

“Gugnin turned his cryptocurrency company into a secret channel to launder dirty money, redirecting more than half a billion dollars through the US financial system to help Russian banks under sanctions. In addition, he helped Russian users purchase confidential American technologies, ”said John Eisenberg, assistant to the national prosecutor for national security.

If Gugnin is found guilty, he faces the maximum punishment of 30 years in prison for each point of charges of banking fraud, 20 years of prison for each point of accusation using electronic communications, 10 years for failure to provide suspicious activities and 5 years for doing business to transfer money without a license.

Last year, the United States imposed sanctions against Russian crypto platforms Cryptex and PM2BTC, accusing them of laundering money received from hackers and other criminal groups. Earlier, the US Department of Finance imposed sanctions against 13 organizations for the use of cryptocurrencies in working with suction Russian banks.