Russian Crypto Businessman Arrested in Netherlands, Moscow Confirms

A Russian crypto businessman has been arrested by authorities in the Netherlands, according to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow. The long arm of the law caught up with the man — who is directly linked with the founding of two crypto exchange platforms, after he was apprehended earlier this month, although reportedly on the request of U.S. law enforcement.

Russian Crypto Businessman Detained in Holland

According to a report by Forkleg news which quoted a certain Maria Zakharova of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Denis Dubnikov, co-founder of the Coyote Crypto and Eggchange exchange platforms, has been arrested in Amsterdam.

The Russian crypto businessman was initially detained and placed in an isolation ward at the airport in Mexico City. Before he was now put aboard a flight to the Netherlands where he was finally arrested by Dutch authorities, according to a request submitted by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the publication detailed.

According to a November 4 Facebook post by Sergei Mendeleev, the CEO of the DeFi banking platform Indefibank, the U.S is seeking to extradite Dubnikov in relation to a crypto theft dating back to 2018. Some of the digital money is said to have passed through wallets on his crypto exchange platform.

In the post, Mendeleev questioned how it was possible for Russian citizen like Dubnikov, to be detained at the airport in Mexico for no clear reasons, and deported subsequently, just as it exactly happened.

Mendeleev then called out the Russian Foreign Ministry regarding the situation, which made Maria Zakharova from the Ministry to react.  Responding to the call out, Zakharova confirmed the information about Dubnikov’s detention and added that Russian diplomats in the Netherlands are on hand to provide assistance to the detained Russian citizen, while also working with local law enforcement agencies to ensure that his rights are not infringed upon.

Dubnikov Arrested Amid Anti-Money Laundering Investigations Against His Crypto Business

The news of Denis Dubnikov’s arrest follows after Bloomberg reported his Eggchange platform being the target of anti-money laundering investigations in Europe and the U.S. In September, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned crypto broker Suex which was operating out of offices in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Dubnikov is not the first Russian crypto entrepreneur detained on a U.S. warrant. Back in 2017, the Russian IT specialist Alexander Vinnik was arrested during a family vacation in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. As of that time, American prosecutors claim Vinnik, an alleged operator of the infamous BTC-e exchange, had laundered up to $9 billion through the now-defunct coin trading platform. He has since been extradited to France and sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering.