Global Law Enforcement Dismantles Cryptocurrency Money Laundering Service That Processed Nearly $400 Million

International law enforcement agencies have shut down a major cryptocurrency money laundering operation that processed approximately $400 million in criminal proceeds between 2022 and 2025. Two men—Igor Tkachuk, 37, and Alexander Ledenev, 25—were arrested in Batumi, Georgia, on charges of operating AudiA6, a sophisticated service that "mixed" stolen digital assets to conceal their origins from authorities. The coordinated investigation involved U.S., European, and Polish authorities supported by Eurojust and Europol.

How the Laundering Operation Functioned

AudiA6 operated as a dual-purpose criminal enterprise with two interconnected services. The organization managed Dark2Web, a cybercrime marketplace where users could contract illicit services and connect with other cybercriminals worldwide. Separately, the group ran a cryptocurrency mixing service that accepted stolen or ill-gotten digital assets and returned "cleaned" funds through complex transaction chains designed to obscure the money's criminal origin.

The laundering process moved quickly. When customers transferred stolen cryptocurrency to wallets controlled by the criminal group, they received cleaned funds back within approximately one hour. AudiA6 charged commissions ranging between 3 percent and 10 percent, with higher fees applied to smaller transactions. At least $20 million of the $389 million processed came directly from accounts associated with dark web activity, including proceeds from ransomware attacks and theft operations. The organization earned a minimum of $10 million in profit from commission fees alone.

International Investigation and Arrests

U.S. federal authorities in Philadelphia conducted six undercover transactions with AudiA6 between December 2022 and May 2025 to gather evidence. In communications typically conducted in Russian, undercover agents explicitly identified themselves as seeking to exchange stolen cryptocurrency. Court documents reveal one exchange where an agent asked if "scam" Bitcoin would be accepted, and the operator simply responded that the source did not matter. The suspect arrested in Poland in September 2025 preceded the broader June action day in Georgia, where both co-perpetrators were detained.

Eurojust coordinated judicial measures across France, Poland, Georgia, and Iceland, facilitating mutual legal assistance requests across multiple jurisdictions. Europol's European Cybercrime Centre analyzed the criminal money flows and mapped the laundering infrastructure. U.S. Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation supported the investigation through Eurojust's U.S. Liaison Desk, while the Polish National Desk coordinated with the Central Cybercrime Bureau in Łódź. Prosecutors in Philadelphia are seeking to extradite both suspects to face money laundering charges.