US sanctions Russian accused of laundering Ryuk ransomware funds

The U.S. authorities has sanctioned a Russian nationwide for allegedly laundering thousands and thousands of {dollars}’ price of sufferer ransom funds on behalf of people linked to the infamous Ryuk ransomware group.

Based on an announcement from the U.S. Treasury’s Workplace of Overseas Belongings Management (OFAC), Ekaterina Zhdanova, 37, is accused of utilizing digital foreign money change transfers and fraudulent accounts to launder cash for Russian elites, ransomware teams and different dangerous actors to help them evade economic sanctions imposed on Russia’s monetary system following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Ryuk first emerged in 2018 and is thought for its assaults concentrating on the U.S. public sector. In 2020, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the gang was linked to an assault on Universal Health Services, one of many largest healthcare suppliers within the U.S., costing the healthcare large at the least $67 million in misplaced earnings.

OFAC stated Zhdanova laundered greater than $2.3 million of “suspected sufferer funds” for a Ryuk ransomware affiliate in 2021. Zhdanova allegedly ran the illicit funds via cryptocurrency exchanges that lack anti-money laundering controls, together with the Russia-based Garantex change, which was the topic of U.S. sanctions in 2022.

Zhdanova additionally makes use of conventional companies to keep up entry to the worldwide monetary system, together with via a luxurious watch firm that has places of work world wide, in accordance with OFAC. As per Chainalysis, a search of Zhdanova’s e mail deal with additionally reveals that she is at the moment promoting a 13-room lodge in Moscow that “generates a revenue of as much as 1,000,000 rubles a month,” or about $11,000 on the time of writing — although it’s unclear the lodge enterprise pertains to her alleged cash laundering exercise.

TechCrunch despatched Zhdanova a number of WhatsApp and Sign messages by way of the cellphone quantity included on the itemizing, however didn’t hear again.

Zhdanova has additionally been accused of conducting digital foreign money change transfers on behalf of oligarchs who’ve relocated internationally. Based on OFAC, a Russian oligarch sought out Zhdanova to maneuver over $100 million in wealth on their behalf to the United Arab Emirates, and she or he additionally helped related purchasers acquire tax residency within the nation, in addition to identification playing cards and financial institution accounts based mostly in Dubai.

In February, the U.S. and U.Ok. governments levied sanctions against seven people allegedly related to a single community behind the Conti and Ryuk ransomware variants, in addition to the infamous Trickbot banking trojan. The sanctions got here days after Russian citizen Denis Mihaqlovic Dubnikov, 30, pleaded responsible in a U.S. court docket to laundering Ryuk ransomware funds following his extradition from the Netherlands.