Indian authorities have arrested a Lithuanian man wanted by the U.S. for allegedly operating a $96 billion cryptocurrency exchange used by terrorist organizations, drug traffickers, and cybercriminals to launder money.
The arrest marks the culmination of an intense U.S.-led manhunt for Aleksej Besciokov, which escalated last week with the seizure of the exchange, the freezing of $26 million in assets, and the unsealing of an indictment against Besciokov and an alleged accomplice.
The U.S. is expected to seek Besciokov’s extradition to the Eastern District of Virginia, a significant step in its ongoing crackdown on money laundering networks that fuel global crime and terrorism. The arrest also signals that, despite a shift in the Trump administration’s approach to Russia in certain areas—such as offensive cyber operations—the Justice Department remains committed to pursuing accused criminals with ties to Russia.
According to the Justice Department, Besciokov had been residing in Russia, though his reasons for traveling to India remain unclear.
Indian authorities arrested Besciokov this week in the southwestern state of Kerala, with the country’s Central Bureau of Investigation referring to him as a “fugitive” in an official statement.
The arrest comes less than a week after the Justice Department unsealed an indictment against Besciokov and Russian national Aleksandr Mira Serda for allegedly operating Garantex. According to the Justice Department, Besciokov managed the exchange’s infrastructure and ensured it remained online, while Mira Serda co-founded the platform and served as its “chief commercial officer.”
The Besciokov case highlights how physically detaining alleged money launderers remains one of the most effective ways to disrupt their operations. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Garantex in 2022, but Besciokov and others allegedly “redesigned Garantex’s operations” to evade those sanctions and deceive U.S. businesses into unknowingly engaging with the exchange. Between 2015 and 2019, Garantex processed $96 billion in transactions, according to the indictment.
