NY Resident Launders $530 million in Crypto Scheme for Russian Banks

- NY resident Iurii Gugnin arrested; faces wire fraud, money laundering charges. - Over $530 million allegedly laundered using Tether (USDT) to aid Russian banks. On June 9, 2025, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that authorities arrested and arraigned Iurii Gugnin in New York. Gugnin, a 38-year-old New York resident and Russian national, now faces a 22-count indictment charging him with wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Gugnin, who also uses the aliases Iurii Mashukov and George Goognin, allegedly laundered more than $530 million, using his cryptocurrency companies, Evita Investments Inc. and Evita Pay Inc., for this purpose. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on June 9, Gugnin moved these funds through the U.S. financial system, primarily using the stablecoin Tether (USDT) for these transactions between June 2023 and January 2025. Furthermore, these funds allegedly aided sanctioned Russian banks and helped Russian end-users acquire sensitive U.S. technology. The indictment further accuses Gugnin of concealing the origin of these funds and also states he made false statements to banks and cryptocurrency exchanges. For each count of bank fraud, Gugnin faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. On June 9, The Block and Crypto Craft also reported this information, while Techmeme highlighted the charges on the same day. On June 9, CoinMarketCap reported that Tether USDt (USDT) traded at $1.001 as of 21:08 UTC, and its 24-hour trading volume changed by 0.012%.