British company linked to Bitcoin exchange at centre of FBI money laundering claims
A British company regulated by the City watchdog has links to a notorious cryptocurrency exchange at the centre of a US money laundering trial, according to anti-corruption investigators.
Global Witness, an anti-corruption NGO, has uncovered fresh evidence of connections between Mayzus Financial Services (MFS), a Russian-owned company incorporated in the UK, andcryptocurrency exchange BTC-e.
BTC-e was one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, handling more than $9bn (£7bn) of Bitcoin transactions since its inception in 2011, according to US prosecutors.
The exchange was allegedly used by the Russian state-sponsored Fancy Bear hacking group to pay for part of its cyberattack on the World Anti-Doping Agency, which led to the leaking of medical records of British Tour de France winners Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome.
BTC-e and Alexander Vinnik, a Russian national alleged to have operated the exchange, are facing a raft of charges in a Californian court, including money laundering. Prosecutors claim BTC-e lacked basic money laundering controls and was “one of the principal means by which cyber criminals around the world laundered the proceeds of their illicit activity”.
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