US authorities announced on Wednesday the arrest of a Russian citizen, the founder of Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency platform Bitzlato, who is accused of laundering $700 million through criminal activity, AFP reported.

Anatoly Legkodymov, a 40-year-old Russian national living in China, was arrested overnight in Miami, Florida, during an international operation involving French agents.

He was scheduled to appear before a federal judge to face formal charges of wire fraud.

“Today, the Department of Justice is dealing a blow to the cryptocurrency ecosystem” and “is responding to the crisis of confidence in the cryptocurrency markets,” Assistant Secretary of Justice Lisa Monaco commented at the press conference.

“Whether you’re breaking the law in China or Europe, or operating our financial system from a tropical island, you can expect to be prosecuted for your actions in a US court,” she added, alluding to the arrest in the Bahamas . the former head of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange Sam Bankman-Fried.

In this new case, the US Justice Department accuses Anatoly Legkodymov of adopting a “minimum identification” policy for his clients, boasting that he does not require “selfies or passports.” As a result, Bitzlato has become a “haven for criminal funds,” according to the Ministry of Justice.

The company is accused of conducting most of its transactions through the “Hydra Market,” the most important trading platform on the dark web until it was taken down in April in a joint operation by German and US authorities.

Operating in Russian since 2015, Hydra Market sold both drugs and forged documents on the darknet.

According to US authorities, Hydra users have exchanged more than $700 million in cryptocurrencies through Bitzlato.

According to the complaint, Anatoly Legkodymov knew that his clients were hiding under false identities to carry out illegal activities. In an internal message, he admitted that they were “fraudsters”.

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