U.S., Germany, and Finland Shut Down Garantex Over Money Laundering Allegations

The United States, Germany, and Finland have taken coordinated action to shut down the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex over allegations of facilitating large-scale money laundering operations. The crackdown involved seizing Garantexs online infrastructure, freezing assets, and blocking transactions linked to illicit financial activities.

Garantexs Role in Money Laundering

Garantex, a Russian cryptocurrency exchange originally registered in Estonia in 2019, has been accused of processing at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions, many of which were linked to ransomware, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Garantex knowingly facilitated illicit financial flows and took measures to conceal its involvement.

Two key executives, Aleksej Besciokov (46, Lithuanian citizen, Russian resident) and Aleksandr Mira Serda (40, Russian citizen, UAE resident), have been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Besciokov also faces additional charges of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Court documents reveal that between 2019 and 2025, Besciokov and Mira Serda controlled Garantex, overseeing transactions and maintaining critical infrastructure. Despite being aware of illegal activities, they actively facilitated them and misled Russian law enforcement authorities about the identity of account holders linked to criminal activities.

International Actions Against Garantex

Users who now visit these websites will see a law enforcement seizure notice, indicating that the sites have been taken down to prevent further use for money laundering and other illegal activities.

Meanwhile, law enforcement authorities in Germany and Finland have seized the servers used to operate Garantex. U.S. authorities have also obtained an early copy of Garantexs customer and accounting databases. Additionally, more than $26 million in funds suspected of being used for money laundering has been frozen by U.S. law enforcement agencies.

On March 6, 2025, U.S. law enforcement executed a court-approved domain seizure of three websites linked to Garantex:

• Garantex.org

• Garantex.io

• Garantex.academy

The United States had already sanctioned Garantex back in April 2022, accusing it of facilitating ransomware payments and dark web transactions. However, Garantex continued operating despite being aware of the sanctions, even redesigning its operations to evade detection.

The coordinated actions by the U.S., Germany, and Finland mark another significant crackdown on illicit financial activities in the crypto space.