US officials freezes $6.1M, action against Chatex to facilitate illegal crypto transactions

The US Treasury Department seized $6.1 million worth of crypto assets and also will take action on the Chatex crypto exchange to facilitate illicit activities based transactions. 

In the present time, illicit crypto transaction-based activities are very tough to facilitate because government authorities are now also experts in this field to trace the illegal crypto activities based transactions. In some cases, crypto exchanges are found to have direct involvement in illegal crypto transactions and they are helping bad actors to use crypto in illegal uses. In the latest US treasury department exposed a ransomware attacker. 

The US treasury department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took the action against Chatex,  IZIBITS OU, Chatextech SIA, and Hightrade Finance and said that the US government will take suitable action on these platforms. 

According to OFAC, Chatex has direct relations with the Czech Republic and Russia-based business Suex OTC. These platforms have been sanctioned since September. 

OFAC said that the Chatex exchange helped many illegal crypto transactions like Ransomware attacks related transactions. And around more than half of the crypto transactions linked with this exchange and are involved in illegal activities. As per the order, Latvian and Estonian authorities seized the operations of the Chatex and also will revoke the license of the IZIBITS OU. 

US Treasury department elaborated on the illegal operations of the Chatex and added 

“Unprincipled virtual currency exchanges like Chatex are critical to the profitability of ransomware activities, especially by laundering and cashing out the proceeds for criminals”

Further, they added that they will detain all the actors involved from the US in this activity and also will take suitable action against them. 

The US treasury department targeted Ukrainian national Yaroslav Vasinskyi and Russian national Yevgeniy Polyanin and said that these platforms helped to facilitate ransomware attacks in the US many times on the private sector. So no one US citizen will be allowed to use Vasinskyi, Polyanin, Chatex, and all associated entities.

Read also: Dutch Police freezes Crypto wallet worth $29M Following Criminal Investigation