TechFlow News, June 11: According to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, U.S. Attorney David Metcalf announced that on June 11, Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk, 37, a Ukrainian national, and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev, 25, a Russian national—both residing in Batumi, Georgia—were arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of money laundering. The two are alleged to have operated the cryptocurrency money laundering service “AudiA6” since 2021, charging fees of up to 5% to help clients conceal funds derived from illicit sources. AudiA6 reportedly processed approximately 10,333 bitcoins—valued at roughly $389 million—including proceeds directly linked to dark web marketplaces, ransomware groups, and other illegal activities.
The arrest operation was jointly conducted by the U.S. Secret Service, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, Europol, and law enforcement agencies from Australia, Canada, France, Georgia, and Germany. Related servers and domains were seized, encrypted assets frozen, and the AudiA6 website—as well as the dark web forum Dark2Web—were replaced with official law enforcement seizure notices. Both defendants are currently detained by Georgian authorities, and the U.S. Department of Justice intends to seek their extradition. If convicted, each faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.
