Moscow-City shuts down nine illegal crypto exchanges as police probe two fraud cases

Russian law enforcement carried out raids in Moscow-City’s Federation Tower, shutting down nine illegal crypto exchange points, including Donald-Capital, in a move tied to two criminal fraud investigations. For high-risk PSPs, the important part is not the spectacle: it is the mechanics of cash-in, crypto-out flows being used to move stolen funds out of the banking system.

1. The operation took place in Moscow-City as part of two criminal cases on fraud on an especially large scale under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code. One case is being investigated by the Internal Affairs Directorate for Moscow’s South-Eastern Administrative District, and the other by the police in the urban district of Korolyov, Moscow Region.
2. According to the preliminary data cited by the security services, the cases stem from complaints filed by victims of phone scammers, and the total number of victims may eventually run into the hundreds. The investigators say the trail led them to Donald-Capital and eight other illegal crypto exchangers operating in Federation Tower.
3. In most of the exchange points, officers were refused entry, so спецназ had to be called in and use special tools to get inside. More than 20 employees of the crypto exchange points were detained during the operation, including couriers who collected cash from defrauded citizens and delivered it to the exchange offices.
4. The detainees were reportedly hired remotely from different Russian regions. The alleged setup was used by Ukrainian call centers to move money stolen from Russian victims, with the funds used both for personal purposes and, according to the preliminary data, for financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine and agents of Ukrainian security services involved in crimes in Russia of a terrorist nature.
5. The scam itself followed a standard script: callers posed as FSB or Rosfinmonitoring staff and instructed victims to follow steps precisely, claiming this was the only way to protect their money and prevent it from being transferred to finance Ukrainian forces. The investigators say the victims, aged from 18 to 70, did not understand the nature of their actions.

For payment operators and compliance teams, the practical takeaway is straightforward: cash collection, courier networks, and off-ramp crypto exchange points remain a familiar laundering chain when fraud proceeds need to move quickly outside normal banking rails.