State of Georgia indicts 3 developers behind mixing services Blender, Sinbad

A national expansive assemblage successful the Northern District of Georgia indicted 3 Russian nationals for their alleged roles successful operating crypto mixers Blender.io and Sinbad.io — tools utilized to launder funds tied to cybercrime, including ransomware and virtual currency thefts.

The indictment, published connected Jan. 10, charges Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko, Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik, and Anton Vyachlavovich Tarasov with conspiracy to perpetrate wealth laundering and operating unlicensed money-transmitting businesses.

Ostapenko and Oleynik were arrested connected Dec. 1, 2024. Tarasov remains astatine large.

Authorities allege that Blender.io and Sinbad.io facilitated illicit transactions by masking the origins of crypto obtained done transgression activities. According to the indictment, some platforms were heavy utilized by state-sponsored hacking groups and different cyber criminals.

According to the statement:

“By allegedly operating these mixers, the defendants made it easier for cybercriminals to nett from offenses that endanger nationalist information and nationalist security.”

Blender.io, operational from 2018 to 2022, promoted a “No Logs Policy” and boasted that it required nary idiosyncratic accusation from users.

Sinbad.io, which launched aft Blender.io ceased operations, followed akin practices. The FBI and its planetary partners dismantled Sinbad.io successful November 2023.

Both platforms were yet sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for laundering funds for state-sponsored hacking groups, including North Korea’s.

If convicted, the defendants look up to 20 years successful situation for wealth laundering conspiracy and an further 5 years for each number of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

This lawsuit highlights the powerfulness of planetary cooperation, with contributions from instrumentality enforcement agencies successful the Netherlands, Finland, and Australia. The FBI is starring the probe with assistance from the Justice Department’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.

An indictment is an allegation, and each defendants are presumed guiltless until proven blameworthy successful a tribunal of law.

The station State of Georgia indicts 3 developers down mixing services Blender, Sinbad appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.