Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have charged Iurii Gugnin, the founder of a US-based crypto payments company, with orchestrating a sophisticated international money laundering operation that allegedly moved over $530 million on behalf of sanctioned Russian banks and entities.
Gugnin faces a 22-count indictment that includes charges of wire and bank fraud, violations of US sanctions, money laundering, and failing to implement mandated anti-money laundering protocols. Assistant Attorney General Eisenberg stated:
The defendant is charged with turning a cryptocurrency company into a covert pipeline for dirty money, moving over half a billion dollars through the US financial system to aid sanctioned Russian banks and help Russian end-users acquire sensitive US technology.
According to prosecutors, Gugnin utilized his companies—Evita Investments and Evita Pay—to process significant payments while obscuring the origins and purposes of the funds. Between June 2023 and January 2025, he allegedly funneled money through various US banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, primarily using Tether’s USDT stablecoin.
Prosecutors allege he concealed the source of the funds through shell accounts and altered over 80 invoices, digitally removing the identities of Russian counterparties.
Investigators also uncovered internet searches that indicate Gugnin was aware of the scrutiny he faced, including queries like “how to know if there is an investigation against you” and “money laundering penalties in the US”
If convicted on bank fraud charges alone, the crypto executive faces a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. However, should he be found guilty on all counts, he could face a much longer consecutive sentence that could extend beyond his lifetime, underscoring the severity of the charges against him.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
