{"id":9167,"date":"2026-06-12T03:11:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T00:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/12\/audia6-crypto-laundering-suspects-face-extradition-to-us\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T03:11:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T00:11:43","slug":"audia6-crypto-laundering-suspects-face-extradition-to-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/12\/audia6-crypto-laundering-suspects-face-extradition-to-us\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018AudiA6\u2019 crypto laundering suspects face extradition to US"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The pair behind a $389 million cryptocurrency laundering service dubbed \u201cAudiA6\u201d have been arrested following international investigations between the US, Europol, and 10 other countries.<\/p>\n

According to a press release<\/a> from the US Attorney\u2019s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, both Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk, 37, Ukrainian, and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev, 25, Russian, are residents of Georgia, where they are currently in custody.<\/p>\n

The US will be seeking the pair\u2019s extradition, after which they could each face a maximum sentence of 20 years.<\/p>\n

Europol called<\/a> the platform the \u201cmost trusted by ransomware gangs and cybercriminal networks\u201d and links it to \u201cover 15 international cybercrime investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n

In what is described as a \u201ccoordinated international takedown,\u201d properties were searched, cryptocurrency was frozen, and online infrastructure was targeted, with the organization\u2019s websites replaced by a law enforcement seizure banner.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The websites of AudiA6 and the Dark2Web forum were reportedly replaced with a seizure banner.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Read more: <\/em>Crypto hack goes political as Grinex blames \u2018Western special services\u2019<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

As well as running AudiA6, the pair allegedly ran the cybercrime forum Dark2Web. On the forum, AudiA6 \u201cexplicitly offers to conceal and disguise\u201d cryptocurrency linked to criminal activity \u201cfor a fee of up to five percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to US law enforcement\u2019s blockchain analysis, over 10,000 bitcoin (BTC) are estimated to have been deposited into AudiA6 since its launch in 2021.<\/p>\n

Of these, almost 400 BTC were deposited directly from illicit sources, with additional funds indirectly linked to illicit activity.<\/p>\n

KuCoin catches strays<\/h2>\n

Prolific blockchain investigator ZachXBT called AudiA6 \u201cone of the top\u201d users of centralized crypto exchange KuCoin where it ran a \u201ccentralized mixing services for cybercriminals.\u201d<\/p>\n

He believes<\/a> AudiA6 laundered funds stolen from Swissborg<\/a> last year, and LastPass users<\/a>, which began<\/a> in December 2022.<\/p>\n

In April, the sleuth questioned why Kucoin would \u201callow\u201d the laundering of crypto stolen via a fake Ledger app and from crypto ATM Bitcoin Depot.<\/p>\n

\n
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C) Want to explain to the community why Kucoin allowed a threat actor to launder $9.5M+ tied to a fake Ledger app via 150+ Kucoin deposit addresses over the past week?<\/p>\n

A few days before that another threat actor laundered $3.5M+ from the Bitcoin Depot incident via 25+ Kucoin\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/vo7jb1rdwu<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ZachXBT (@zachxbt) April 14, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Read more: <\/em>KuCoin criticized for helping \u2018launder\u2019 $9.5M from fake Ledger app<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Another blockchain sleuth is similarly critical of KuCoin in its alleged failure to prevent AudiA6\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n

SEAL contributor Nick Bax claims<\/a> that KuCoin \u201cfacilitated\u201d the laundering of \u201ca very large amount of LastPass stolen funds.\u201d He adds that \u201cin rare cases\u201d the exchange temporarily froze funds, but \u201cwould often release the funds back to the launderers.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also points out<\/a> that AudiA6 \u201cliterally advertised key sweeping,\u201d the mass draining of crypto from stolen seed phrases, such as from a compromised password manager.<\/p>\n

Got a tip? Send us an email securely via\u00a0<\/em>Protos Leaks<\/em><\/a>. For more informed news and investigations, follow us on\u00a0X<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>Bluesky<\/em><\/a>, and\u00a0<\/em>Google News<\/em><\/a>, or subscribe to our\u00a0<\/em>YouTube<\/em><\/a>\u00a0channel.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post \u2018AudiA6\u2019 crypto laundering suspects face extradition to US<\/a> appeared first on Protos<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The pair behind a $389 million cryptocurrency laundering service dubbed \u201cAudiA6\u201d have been arrested following international investigations between the US, Europol, and 10 other countries. According to a press release from the US Attorney\u2019s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, both Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk, 37, Ukrainian, and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev, 25, Russian, are residents of Georgia, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-invest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}