U.S. Sanctions Russian Businesswoman For Helping Oligarchs Evade Sanctions

Washington D.C./03.11.23/Turan:    The United States on Friday sanctioned a Russian businesswoman for helping Russian oligarchs and cybercriminals use cryptocurrencies to evade U.S. sanctions, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

Ekaterina Zhdanova, a Russian national, was designated for her role in laundering hundreds of millions of dollars using virtual currency on behalf of sanctioned Russian elites, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

"Zhdanova has also provided a range of virtual, cash-based, tax residency and other services to Russian clients seeking to launder funds or obscure the sources of their wealth," Miller added. "Among others, she has provided such services to individuals connected with a ransomware group that U.S. law enforcement identified as a cybercrime threat to healthcare providers in the United States"

Zhdanova, 37, used digital currencies to facilitate large cross-border transactions, taking advantage of platforms with weak compliance controls such as a Russian crypto exchange called Garantex that the U.S. sanctioned last year, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.

The move comes just a day after the Biden Administration issued nearly 100 sanctions targeting Russia's future energy production and revenue, metals and mining sector, defense procurement, and those involved in supporting the Russian government's war effort and other malign activities.

Miller went on to add, "Our action today highlights the consequences of supporting corrupt Kremlin proxies, underscores the United States’s efforts to address the abuse of virtual currency to launder illicit funds, and exposes an illicit actor’s money laundering activities. This action is also consistent with the G7’s commitment to cracking down on sanctions evasion and closing loopholes that allow the Russian Federation, its elites, proxies, and oligarchs to leverage virtual currency to offset the impact of international sanctions."

The United States is "committed to safeguarding the integrity of our financial system, including the virtual assets ecosystem," Miller said. "We will continue to use all available tools to target Russia-based cybercrime and counter the threat posed by ransomware in coordination with national and international partners."

Alex Raufoglu