"US feds have dismantled a crypto laundering service that they say helped cybercrooks wash tens of millions of dollars in dirty digital cash, seizing its servers and unsealing charges against an alleged Russian operator. The FBI, working with cops in Europe and a grab bag of state and federal agencies, announced this week that it has taken down the infrastructure behind E-Note, an unlicensed virtual currency exchange accused of acting as a financial rinse cycle for ransomware crews, account takeover gangs, and other online criminals."
"According to prosecutors in the Eastern District of Michigan, E-Note and its associated money mule networks moved more than $70 million in illicit proceeds between 2017 and the takedown, converting stolen or extorted cryptocurrency into cash and other assets that were harder for authorities to trace. Investigators seized servers, mobile apps, and multiple domains used to operate the service, including e-note.com and e-note.ws, effectively pulling the plug on the platform."
"US authorities also unsealed an indictment charging 39-year-old Russian national Mykhalio Petrovich Chudnovets with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. Prosecutors allege Chudnovets has been offering laundering services to financially motivated cybercrooks since at least 2010 via the E-Note service, "which he controlled and operated." US law enforcement separately obtained earlier copies of Chudnovets' servers, including customer databases and transaction records, according to the announcement."
U.S. and international law enforcement dismantled the infrastructure of E-Note, an unlicensed virtual currency exchange used to launder criminal proceeds. Prosecutors say E-Note and affiliated money mule networks moved more than $70 million in illicit proceeds between 2017 and the takedown, converting stolen or extorted cryptocurrency into cash and other hard-to-trace assets. Investigators seized servers, mobile apps, and multiple domains including e-note.com and e-note.ws. Authorities unsealed an indictment charging 39-year-old Russian national Mykhalio Petrovich Chudnovets with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, alleging he controlled and operated E-Note and provided laundering services since at least 2010. Law enforcement obtained earlier copies of Chudnovets' servers containing customer databases and transaction records. Chudnovets remains at large, faces up to 20 years if convicted, and is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Officials framed the operation as targeting the financial infrastructure that enables cybercrime and noted E-Note allegedly operated with little to no anti-money laundering controls.
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