Arrest of Crypto Exchange Employees in Moscow

Five employees of a crypto exchange were arrested in Moscow on suspicion of aiding scammers. The investigation began after a major theft from an elderly woman.

The scam involved a false message about a hack on the Gosuslugi account. Scammers convinced a 73-year-old woman to hand over 13.3 million rubles to a courier for security verification.

The detained courier identified a cryptocurrency exchange where money from other victims was sent. Police conducted searches at offices on Mantulinskaya Street and Presnenskaya Embankment.

Four employees aged 20 to 30, who had arrived from the Volgograd region, were detained at the scene. A fifth suspect, a 26-year-old man, was detained at the airport while attempting to leave Moscow.

During investigative actions, more than 5 million rubles, cryptocurrency sales contracts, adding machines, and a shredder with destroyed documents were seized.

During the searches, two more couriers—an 18-year-old young man and a 19-year-old girl—arrived at one of the offices. They had more than 3 million rubles intended for transfer to the scammers.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the investigation is ongoing under a criminal case of fraud in an especially large amount. Investigators are identifying accomplices and additional episodes of criminal activity.