FSB detains more than 20 people over alleged illegal crypto exchangers in Moscow-City

Russia’s FSB says it has detained more than 20 people suspected of working for unregistered crypto exchangers in Moscow-City, where money from phone-scam victims was allegedly laundered through cryptocurrency. For PSPs and crypto on-ramps, the useful bit is simple: the exchange can be the last mile of a fraud flow, not just a trading venue.

1. According to the FSB’s Public Relations Center, the suspects worked in business centers in Moscow-City and were tied to unregistered crypto exchangers that allegedly processed funds taken from victims of telephone fraud.
2. The same case also covers alleged accomplices of Ukrainian call centers, aged 18 to 25, whom the FSB says acted as couriers in the scheme. They allegedly collected cash from deceived citizens and passed it to crypto exchangers for further transfer to Ukraine.
3. The FSB says it identified nine foreign-directed cash-out channels using cryptocurrency. That is the operational detail that matters for risk teams: multiple channels, same basic rail, and a cross-border exit at the end.
4. In the exchangers themselves, the FSB says young workers with little financial literacy were recruited for easy money. Russians, including pensioners who had been manipulated by fraudsters, were allegedly sold cryptocurrency, after which the funds were transferred to accounts of “Ukrainian curators.”
5. A criminal case has been opened for especially large-scale fraud under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code. The crypto exchanger staff and couriers are being treated as accomplices, and the maximum penalty mentioned is up to 10 years in prison. Investigators are now looking for victims to establish the full sequence of events, verify testimony, and assess possible compensation for losses.