Police raided Moscow’s Gorbushka market in a case tied to illegal crypto exchangers

Russian law enforcement carried out searches and detentions at the Moscow shopping complex “Gorbushka” overnight on Friday, 14 August. The raid is linked to a criminal case involving illegal crypto exchangers, which is exactly the sort of move high-risk payment operators watch for when local authorities start tightening the screws on cash-heavy crypto flows.

1. According to Baza, a Telegram channel close to law enforcement, officers searched trading halls and back rooms, seizing large amounts of cash, accounting records, and computer equipment. In one office, more than 10 million rubles in cash was taken during several hours of searches.
2. The investigative actions at “Gorbushka” have now ended. Officers are reviewing the seized documents and electronics, questioning administrators, and estimating the volume of rubles that were cashed out. No official comment has been made yet by the police, the Investigative Committee, or the FSB.
3. As news of the searches spread, around 25 young men with athletic builds were seen arriving at the shopping center, and Baza also noted a green BMW with plates from the Republic of Dagestan in the parking lot.
4. The raid comes just before Russia’s law “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights” takes effect on 1 September. The law sets state-control rules for cryptocurrency circulation: trading will be allowed only on exchanges licensed by the Bank of Russia, digital custodians will handle storage and recordkeeping, and they will have to screen clients for suspicious transfers.
5. For non-professional investors — that is, almost all Russians — crypto purchases will be capped at 300,000 rubles per year through one intermediary. Last week, Federal Security Service officers in Moscow also detained about 20 employees of crypto exchangers; according to the case materials, scammers from Ukraine used the exchangers to move money stolen from Russians.