The WSJ article states that before the attack on Israel, Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants received $93 million through the Russian crypto exchange Garantex. The publication claims that the Garantex platform, whose office is located in the Moscow City complex, was used not only by Islamic Jihad militants, but also by terrorists from Hamas.
In response to the article, Evgenia Burova, marketing director of the Garantex cryptocurrency exchange, stated that Garantex has nothing to do with transferring money to Palestinian militants. Among Garantex’s clients there are Palestinians, Burova explained, adding that exchange clients in the UAE are in demand, offering “the best conditions for exchanging USDT for dollars.”
“We monitored the chats, and in one of them the client admitted that he actually received money from some Palestinians for legal services in the Russian Federation. Perhaps one of Garantex’s clients did the same,” Burova suggested.
She recalled that Garantex does not work with politically exposed persons.
“These are transactions that may attract unwanted attention. And we consider this a high enough risk to refuse them,” she said.
Burova added that the exchange cooperates with foreign authorities and Interpol.
“We do not allow cryptocurrency from marked wallets into circulation on the exchange. We cannot refuse to accept a transaction to the primary wallet, but this dirty crypt does not go further into the exchange rotation. She either waits for requests from law enforcement officers, or immediately returns,” Burova added.
Previously, the largest crypto exchange Binance blocked more than a hundred wallets at the request of the Israeli authorities. Tether said it has frozen 32 wallets containing its USDT stablecoins worth $873,118.34. These addresses, company representatives believe, are associated with illegal activities in Israel and Ukraine.
Source: Bits
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