Russian Interior Ministry to increase penalties for intermediaries of crypto scammers

Droppers could face up to seven years in prison for helping to launder funds obtained illegally

13.07.2022 - 06:45

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What’s new? The Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation is working jointly with other departments to increase penalties for intermediaries of crypto scammers. Currently, droppers are prosecuted under Article 172 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Illegal banking activities”), but the Interior Ministry proposes to make this type of offense a separate offense, said Roman Bubnov, a ministry spokesman. In this case, the penalty for assistance in the laundering of stolen funds could be up to seven years in prison, Izvestia reports.

News on the Izvestia website

Droppers are intermediaries who provide their bank cards, e-wallets, and accounts (or personal details to create new ones), to transfer money obtained illegally in order to launder them. A drop is the lowest link in a criminal scheme or group because its details are the easiest to identify. At the same time, in some cases, the drop can receive up to 40% of the transfer amount.

What else did the Interior Ministry say? The ministry also advocates imposing additional identification mechanisms for remote transfers. Thus, the Interior Ministry considers it necessary to limit the possibility of connecting new mobile numbers to mobile banking applications with a smartphone, for this purpose, it is suggested to personally contact the bank’s branches.

Roman Bubnov also stressed that the department is working effectively to investigate cybercrimes. More than 86 000 people were prosecuted in 2021.

Russia ranked third in Coincub analysts’ anti-rating of countries by the number of cybercrimes related to digital assets. Experts noted that a large number of malicious ransomware is being developed in the Russian Federation. The report also stated that the Russian government treats locally organized hacker groups with great tolerance.

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