{"id":90604,"date":"2024-04-19T00:22:40","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T04:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=90604"},"modified":"2024-04-19T00:22:41","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T04:22:41","slug":"russian-ministry-officials-took-btc-eth-bribes-from-crypto-exec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=90604","title":{"rendered":"Russian Ministry Officials \u2018Took BTC, ETH Bribes from Crypto Exec\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs officials took a $53.2 million Bitcoin and ETH bribe from a crypto exchange executive, a major newspaper in the country claimed this week.<\/p>\n

Per Kommersant, the officials were named Georgy Satyukov and Dmitry Sokolov, employees at \u201cone of the ministry\u2019s most secret divisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The media outlet and major Russian Telegram news channels claimed the duo worked at the Bureau of Special Technical Events. The bureau is allegedly codenamed \u201cDepartment K.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reports claim the duo received their bribes in crypto over a period from March 19 to October 2021.<\/p>\n

Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Rocked by Crypto Bribe Allegations<\/h2>\n

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Telegram news channels claimed Department K is a secret cyber crime investigation unit. The unit appears to have been investigating the BTC-e crypto exchange.<\/p>\n

A computer expert named Alexander Vinnik founded BTC-e. Vinnik worked at the firm from 2011 to 2017. He was arrested in Greece in 2017 on fraud and money laundering charges.<\/p>\n

Media outlets explained that a Singapore-based firm named Wex took over BTC-e business operations. However, questions remained over what should happen regarding BTC-e customer funds.<\/p>\n

Law enforcers allegedly believe a Wex executive named Alexey Ivanov offered Satyukov and Sokolov Bitcoin and Ethereum coins to \u201cprotect\u201d him from a police probe.<\/p>\n

Officers reportedly believe Ivanov sent Satyukov and Sokolov a combined total of BTC 2,200 and \u201cmore than ETH 10,000 thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The media outlets said the money \u201cwas transferred through Sokolov to cryptocurrency wallets held by Satyukov.\u201d<\/p>\n

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German authorities arrest two men suspected of espionage for Russia and membership of a terror group planning acts of sabotage against military and industrial sites https:\/\/t.co\/nKRj62Obb6<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bloomberg (@business) April 18, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Officials \u2018Fled Country Fearing Prosecution\u2019<\/h2>\n

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Kommersant said the duo had been arrested \u201cin absentia\u201d after fleeing the country. An unnamed source said they were residing in Dubai, with one living in an apartment in the Burj Khalifa \u2013 the world\u2019s tallest building.<\/p>\n

The media outlet said that investigators had \u201clearned about the alleged corruption in the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs\u201d from Ivanov.<\/p>\n

The latter was accused of embezzling money from a crypto exchange in 2023. Kommersant said Ivanov had agreed to provide information in a \u201cpre-trial agreement\u201d with the First Deputy Prosecutor-General Anatoly Razinkin.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow, Russia. (Source: Lodo27 [CC BY-SA 3.0])<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Satyukov, the media outlet continued, is a former \u201chead of a department that combats IT-related crimes in the credit and financial sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

The newspaper wrote that, if the duo were guilty, this would be a new record for a bribery case in Russia.<\/p>\n

The previous \u201cholder\u201d of this \u201crecord\u201d was another interior ministry official, Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko. The latter was jailed for 13 years in 2019 after taking a bribe worth almost $15 million.<\/p>\n