Officials with India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) announced the arrest of Lithuanian national Aleksej Bešciokov, who was alleged to have operated the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex.
In a March 12 notice, the CBI said police in the Indian state of Kerala had coordinated with national authorities to arrest Bešciokov. The Lithuanian national was reportedly vacationing in India with his family and planning to leave the country. The arrest of the alleged Garantex founder was based on US charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Aleksej Bešciokov’s “most wanted” page. Source: US Secret Service
According to an indictment filed on Feb. 27 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Bešciokov, Aleksandr Mira Serda and others operated