Russian law enforcement searches “Novaya Gorbushka” amid claims of illegal crypto exchange activity

Russian law enforcement officers are carrying out searches at “Novaya Gorbushka,” the building next to the electronics market, according to the trade complex administration quoted by RBC. For high-risk payment operators, the point is simple: this is another sign that informal crypto cash-out infrastructure is still being treated as a live enforcement target in Moscow.

1. RBC said the searches at “Novaya Gorbushka” started overnight, with a staff member telling the outlet that masked officers had arrived the previous day and were already there by the time the shift began.
2. An RT source said the measures are connected to the activity of illegal crypto exchangers. No official statement about the operation had been released at the time of publication.
3. “Gorbushka” is an electronics market that dates back to the late 1980s near the Gorbunov Palace of Culture. It later moved to the Rubin plant building in the 2000s and was renamed “Gorbushkin Dvor.”
4. Last week, FSB and МВД carried out searches in Moscow City in a case involving nine illegal crypto exchangers. More than 20 employees of cryptocurrency exchange points were detained, and according to Kommersant, the monthly turnover of those exchangers exceeded 1 billion rubles.
5. The Kommersant report said those Moscow City exchangers were used by Ukrainian call centers to move money stolen from Russian victims in phone fraud schemes, with daily turnover reaching $1-2 million. The victims were said to be aged 18 to 70, and the scammers allegedly posed as FSB or Rosfinmonitoring officers.