Legkodymov leaded guilty to operating the Bitzlato exchange

[TravelMug]

Just a update on this case, as per the official court documents, Legkodymov has pleaded guilty:

Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian national also known as “Anatolii Legkodymov,” “Gandalf” and “Tolik,” pleaded guilty today in federal court in Brooklyn to operating a money transmitting business that transported and transmitted illicit funds.  The charges stem from Legkodymov’s majority ownership of Bitzlato Ltd., a cryptocurrency exchange that served as a primary conduit for dark market purchasers and sellers, as well as a safe haven for ransomware criminals.  As part of his plea agreement, Legkodymov agreed to dissolve Bitzlato and to release any claim over approximately $23 million in seized assets of Bitzlato. The proceeding was held before United States District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/founder-and-majority-owner-cryptocurrency-exchange-pleads-guilty-unlicensed-money

Although again, if you look at it, this guy might just be facing 5 years as he most likely and his lawyers could have work the case so that he will just be a minimum court sentence for him. His exchange facilitated almost half a billion worth for this criminals as they uses his exchange including coming form the darknet.

[Baofeng]

It's forthcoming though, I mean it's obvious that the US are going to prosecute him because of what his exchange did to criminals, it's just a matter of time before they hand their decision. And for sure he has profited big money here, his managers as they know what is going on in their exchange, lack of KYC and customers using fake and stolen identification.

I wouldn't question the 5 years, that's how US justice is as compare to other nations. If the accused cooperate and squeaked all the information, they could get a lighter sentence and be out in about that time.

[zasad@]

Bitzlato is not a company or an exchange. This is a P2P exchanger that worked through a telegram bot. The team is IT specialists from Russia and Ukraine. After problems with telegram in Russia, the team registered a company in Hong Kong. But he is an idiot because he decided to go to the USA. The second founder lives in Russia and there are no claims against him. I haven't heard anything about the others.