The U.S. Justice Department authorized the seizure of more than $2.8 million in cryptocurrency, cash, and other assets from a suspected ransomware operator, according to an Aug. 14 announcement.

Federal prosecutors unsealed six warrants tied to Ianis Aleksandrovich Antropenko, charging him with conspiring to commit computer fraud and abuse, committing computer fraud and abuse, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In addition to the crypto, authorities also seized $70,000 in cash and a luxury vehicle. The digital assets seized in the raid are expected to be added to the government’s growing crypto reserve.

According to the Justice Department, the assets were linked to ransomware proceeds and laundered through methods including the now-defunct mixing service ChipMixer, which was dismantled in an international operation in 2023.

Officials said Antropenko also converted crypto to cash and made structured deposits to avoid detection.

Part of expanding federal stockpile

The case marks the latest government action involving crypto that could be directed into the U.S. national crypto reserve, created by an executive order enacted by President Donald Trump in March.

Earlier this week, the Justice Department announced the seizure of roughly $1 million from the ransomware group BlackSuit and moved to claim $2.4 million in Bitcoin (BTC) seized by the FBI in Dallas in April.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently revealed that the government’s Bitcoin holdings, acquired through criminal asset forfeitures after victim restitution, totaled about $20 billion.

Bessent drew attention earlier in the week after saying the government would not be buying additional Bitcoin for the reserve. He later backtracked and clarified that the Treasury will continue to seek “budget-neutral” ways to expand its holdings.

Mentioned in this article

Author

Tim Alper

Author

Tim Alper

About Author

Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked…

Share

Last updated: 

June 17, 2025

Russian prosecutors say they have shut down a 30,000 sqm crypto mining farm illegally operating in an industrial plant located on state-owned property.

Per a Telegram post from the official account of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Prosecutor’s Office, the “open-air” facility was located in the town of Nazarovo, some 240 km west of Krasnoyarsk, in Central Siberia.

The office said it had obtained a court order allowing bailiffs to raid the facility. The farm reportedly mined coins worth around 4.6 million rubles ($58,672) per month for its operators.

Crypto Mining Farm ‘Used Scores of Transformers and Generators’

Prosecutors explained that the operators had fenced off the facility with barbed wire. However, its location was nothing if not conspicuous. They wrote: “The farm was right out in the open air in the town’s industrial hub district.”

Officially, the site was registered as a “non-residential building” under the name of a management company.

However, when investigators conducted their raid, they found several transformers on the premises. They also discovered power generators, cooling equipment, and crypto mining rigs.

The management firm, prosecutors said, leased the property to a crypto mining firm, along with a “non-existent building.” The miner had reportedly connected their rigs to the city’s power grid.

Prosecutors said they received a tip-off from an energy provider. The latter reported that it had detected a high probability of emergency power outages at the facility.

When they investigated, the prosecutors discovered that the company had not obtained permission to operate power-receiving units or use state-owned land.

They also found that the miners were not complying with fire safety requirements, which constituted a public safety risk.

Operator Ignored Prosecutors’ Warnings

The office said it initially wrote to the firm to ask it to desist, adding that the operator “ignored” this request.

The prosecution service responded by petitioning a district court, which responded by banning all activity at the facility “until the violations are rectified.”

In February this year, a staffer at a Krasnoyarsk Krai energy provider was discovered taking bribes worth $7,380 from illegal crypto miners.

The staffer agreed to turn a blind eye to the miners’ operations and their illegal connections to the grid.

The same miners stole electricity worth about 9.4 million rubles ($119,592) from the Krasnoyarsk Krai energy system, investigators found.

According to the Federal Tax Service’s registry of crypto miners, Krasnoyarsk Krai is one of Russia’s top three crypto mining regions, along with the Irkutsk region and the Republic of Tatarstan.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is charging six people linked to a multimillion-dollar food stamp and bribery scheme.

In a new press release, the DOJ is announcing charges against six individuals connected to a “sprawling” scheme that hauled in $66 million in food stamps by allegedly abusing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The suspects – Michael Kehoe, Mohamad Nawafleh, Omar Alrawashdeh, Gamal Obaid, Emad Alrawashdeh, and Arlasa Davis – are charged with conspiracy to steal government funds and with misappropriating U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) benefits, among other charges.

Authorities say that starting in 2019, Kehoe and his co-conspirators allegedly submitted fraudulent applications to obtain machine terminals that accepted payments from SNAP recipients for unauthorized places, such as smoke shops.

SNAP recipients use specialized payment cards to purchase food at stores. According to the press release, Kehoe set up 160 illegal terminals across New York and processed millions of dollars worth of fraudulent EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) transactions.

One of the members of the group – Davis – worked for the USDA and is suspected of using her position to acquire and distribute a list of license numbers for qualifying stores, which allowed the thieves to illegally obtain EBT terminals for stores not authorized by the USDA. In return, she received bribes disguised as gifts.

As stated by U.S. Attorney Perry Carbone,

“Michael Kehoe and his co-conspirators misappropriated tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds meant to help low-income families put food on the table. This fraud was made possible when USDA employee Arlasa Davis betrayed the public trust by selling confidential government information to the very criminals she was supposed to catch.

Their actions undermined a program that vulnerable New Yorkers depend on for basic nutrition. These charges should be a reminder that those who exploit anti-poverty programs for personal gain will be held accountable for their crimes.”

If convicted, the suspects face decades behind bars.

Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is taking action against a Philippines-based company accused of facilitating a popular crypto investment scam.

In a statement, the Treasury Department says that Funnull Technology Inc. is facing US sanctions for allegedly providing computer infrastructure to hundreds of thousands of websites engaged in pig butchering scams.

Perpetrators of pig butchering scams use fake identities to build online relationships with unsuspecting individuals with the aim of introducing them to fraudulent cryptocurrency investment opportunities. Criminal organizations based in Southeast Asia largely carry out the scheme by exploiting victims of human trafficking.

Funnull purportedly buys IP addresses from major cloud services companies and sells these to cybercriminals to host scam platforms and malicious websites.

The company also provides services that make it easier for bad actors to impersonate trusted brands and allow them to quickly change to a different domain name and IP address when the legitimate providers attempt to take the websites down.

In 2014, Funnull bought and altered a repository of codes used by web developers to redirect visitors of legitimate sites to scam and online gambling sites, some of which are associated with Chinese criminal money laundering operations.

The Treasury Department says that Funnull has ties to the majority of the crypto investment scam websites that were reported to the FBI. US-based victims claim losing over $200 million to these schemes, or an average of $150,000 per individual.

The OFAC is also imposing sanctions against Funnull’s administrator, Chinese national Liu Lizhi, who was in possession of documents that contain information about the company’s employees, including their performance and progress on tasks.

Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney

A New Zealand man has been arrested for allegedly being a part of an international criminal organization that stole $265 million in crypto assets from seven people.

In a new press release, authorities allege that the unnamed Wellington man participated in a scheme that fraudulently obtained the crypto assets by manipulating victims between March and August 2024.

The U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged the individual with racketeering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Twelve other people are facing charges in connection with the case, including individuals from Auckland and California.

According to prosecutors, the defendants laundered the proceeds of the scheme through various cryptocurrency exchanges before spending the funds to purchase luxury items such as handbags, clothes, cars, watches, private security, rental homes and expensive nightclub entertainment.

The other members of the group were recently arrested and charged by the DOJ as well. According to previous reports, the organization had a team behind them made up of hackers, callers, organizers, money launderers and residential burglars. The team has been operating as early as October 2023.

Last year, two members of the group, Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano, were arrested and charged in connection with a plot that allegedly saw them steal $230 million in crypto from a victim and then attempt to launder the funds using advanced methods.

Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney

South Korean prosecutors raided the headquarters of crypto exchange Bithumb on March 19 as part of an investigation into whether the company’s former CEO misused corporate funds to purchase an apartment, according to local media reports.

Authorities from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office searched Bithumb’s Yeoksam-dong offices, looking into claims that the exchange provided a 3 billion won ($2.3 million) lease deposit to its former CEO and current advisor, Kim Dae-sik.

Investigators suspect that Kim used a portion of these funds to acquire a personal residence in Seoul’s Seongsu-dong district.

The timing of the investigation raises fresh concerns for Bithumb, which has been working toward a long-awaited initial public offering (IPO).

CEO Lee Jae-won recently reaffirmed the company’s intent to list on the stock market in 2025 and has made structural changes to minimize legal risks tied to key shareholders.

Funds repaid

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), South Korea’s financial regulator, previously examined the case before transferring it to prosecutors.

Following the investigation, a Bithumb spokesperson acknowledged in an interview with The Chosun Daily that Kim had taken a loan from an external lender after the FSS investigation and later repaid the funds.

Despite the repayment, prosecutors are reviewing whether the original transaction violated financial regulations or corporate governance rules. The case has intensified scrutiny over Bithumb’s internal financial management as authorities continue to monitor the country’s crypto sector for potential misconduct.

It has also raised concerns about broader governance and financial practices within the exchange, which has faced repeated legal and regulatory scrutiny in recent years.

Listing allegations

The raid comes amid separate allegations that Bithumb and rival exchange Upbit facilitated token listings through intermediaries who allegedly charged projects hefty fees.

Researcher Wu Blockchain reported that some projects paid between $2 million and $10 million to secure listings on the exchanges. The allegations also suggest that certain intermediaries had ties to Upbit shareholders and market makers, with fees ranging from 3% to 5% of token supplies.

Upbit has denied the claims and demanded that Wu Blockchain provide a list of projects that allegedly paid brokerage fees, calling for evidence to support the accusations.

Mentioned in this article

According to a March 4 statement from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Parsarad created the Nemesis marketplace in 2021, allowing illegal trade in drugs, fake documents, hacking tools, and other criminal services.

Alongside Parsarad himself, the sanctions extend to multiple cryptocurrency accounts connected to him, specifically 44 Bitcoin
BTC


$85,025.77

Did you know?

Want to get smarter & wealthier with crypto?

Subscribe – We publish new crypto explainer videos every week!

What is Ethereum & What is it Used For? (Animated Explanation)

Chainalysis, a blockchain intelligence agency, reported these wallets collectively received over $850,000 between July 2022 and March 2024. Due to the increase in cryptocurrency values during this period, Parsarad’s total transfers exceeded $1.6 million.

Most of Parsarad’s cryptocurrency transactions involved Nemesis directly, although Chainalysis revealed that he also sent about $12,000 to other darknet sites, including ASAP Market, Next Generation, and Incognito Market.

Before authorities from the US, Germany, and Lithuania seized Nemesis’s servers in March 2024, the platform hosted roughly 30,000 users and around 1,000 active sellers. OFAC described the site as having built-in features designed to facilitate money laundering.

Bradley T. Smith, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated that Parsarad is actively attempting to relaunch the Nemesis marketplace.

Parsarad is accused not only of operating the marketplace but also of laundering digital currency transactions for criminals who used Nemesis. With the sanctions now in place, US individuals and businesses are prohibited from engaging in any transactions with Parsarad or companies majority-owned by him.

Recently, US authorities detained Aleksei Andriunin, the founder of Gotbit. What happened? Read the full story.