Russian footprint on Wall Street. How to launder $530 million under the noses of the US authorities

In early June 2025, the US Department of Justice reported uncovering a scheme to launder cryptocurrency on a large scale and violate international sanctions. The head of the criminal network turned out to be a resident of New York, Iurii Gugnin. GetBlock AML Research publishes details of the investigation.

In plain sight

At the epicenter of the scheme was the company Evita Pay, which was managed by Russian Iurii Gugnin from 2019 to 2024. The organization was positioned as an international cryptocurrency payment service. According to the US Department of Justice, Evita Pay organized a hidden channel for the transfer of liquidity from Russia to the United States and vice versa with the help of digital assets.

Photo by Yuri Gugnin. Source: social networks

Evita Pay processed payments for Russian banks and financial entities hit by sanctions in 2022, technology companies with export restrictions, and individuals and organizations engaged in cross-border trade. Evita Pay converted rubles into cryptocurrency, and then the digital assets were transferred to the US financial system, where they were exchanged for fiat funds.

Scheme details

In order to pass compliance and conceal the source of origin of funds, Evita Pay created a multi-layered transaction architecture. Shell companies were used to communicate with sub-sanctioned structures. Iurii Gugnin and his team provided US banks with false information about the company’s financial architecture and source of funds to circumvent AML restrictions.

In marketing materials distributed by Evita Pay in the sub-sanctioned regions, claims were found that the company positioned itself as a way to circumvent sanctions by using stablecoins. According to the US Department of Justice, Evita Pay was able to process more than $530 million in transactions.

Compliance alert

The Evita Pay situation illustrates the increasing role of cryptocurrency assets in the global financial system. The story also draws attention to the need for financial institutions and regulators to increase scrutiny of cryptocurrency flows.

Counterparties operating in and around sanctioned jurisdictions should be subject to increased scrutiny. AML practitioners are advised to step up efforts to monitor cryptocurrency transactions, track patterns, and identify patterns in transfers of digital assets.