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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged two men, Ruslan Tkachuk and Alexander Ledenev, with laundering $389 million through a crypto service linked to the Dark Web. The DOJ alleges that Tkachuk and Ledenev operated the AudiA6 organization from the Republic of Georgia, charging fees to obscure the origins of cryptocurrency. The men were arrested Wednesday (June 10) in Batumi, Georgia, and face extradition to the U.S., where they could receive up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
According to a DOJ statement, the Ukrainian and Russian nationals also managed Dark2Web, a cybercrime forum advertising their services. AudiA6 reportedly received over 10,333 Bitcoin (BTC) since 2021, valued at approximately $389.7 million. Only a small portion of these funds came directly from illicit sources, suggesting customers layered coins before using the service.
The takedown involved multiple agencies, including the Secret Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Europol, and Eurojust, with support from 10 other countries. Authorities targeted servers and domains in the U.S., Iceland, Germany, and France, blocking Telegram accounts, freezing crypto assets, and seizing digital devices.
This case is part of a broader effort by the DOJ to combat crypto-related crime. Similar operations have targeted other services, such as a crypto mixing service in November, where German and Swiss authorities seized over 25 million euros. The DOJ has also charged individuals in a $1 billion laundering operation and a Venezuelan scheme.
The extradition process in Georgia will determine how soon Tkachuk and Ledenev face trial in the U.S. The AudiA6 and Dark2Web websites now display seizure banners, a common tactic following darknet marketplace takedowns.