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Russia Releases Bitzlato Co-Founder Anton Shkurenko After Questioning – Exchange Bitcoin News
Russian authorities have released the recently arrested co-founder of crypto exchange Bitzlato, who is said to have processed illegal funds worth millions of US dollars. Anton Shkurenko, who was questioned in Moscow, denies the French charges against him which were the reason for his brief detention.
Shkurenko says a potential case against him in Russia will not interfere with the Bitzlato relaunch
Russian prosecutors have asked France to send material from the investigation into the seized digital asset exchange Bitzlato to determine whether to initiate further proceedings in Russia, the platform’s co-founder Anton Shkurenko revealed to cryptomedia.
The trading platform was targeted in an international law enforcement operation last month when French authorities took down the site and established control over its servers while its other co-founder and majority owner, Anatoly Legkodymov, was arrested in Miami.
At the time, the United States said Hong Kong-registered Bitzlato, better known to Russian traders, had processed $700 million of illegal funds between 2018 and 2022. Europol, which arrested four more members of the team, believes the exchange laundered the money. 1 billion dollars. It received most of the transfers from criminal entities such as the darknet market Hydra and the crypto pyramid Finiko.
Shkurenko explained that on February 7 he was contacted by police officers in Moscow who checked his documents, informed him that he was on Interpol’s wanted list and arrested him. He was then taken to the Tver interdistrict prosecutor’s office where he was interrogated.
“Based on my explanation, the prosecutor issued a non-detention order and they released me,” Shkurenko told crypto news outlet Forklog, noting that authorities in France suspect him of crimes under 19 articles without elaborating.
“What this means for Russian justice, I do not yet understand. Russia does not extradite its citizens,” he also said, adding that prosecutors want to analyze the French material in the case to decide whether to open a new case in the Russian Federation.
Anton Shkurenko reiterated that he denies all charges against him. Last week he announced in an interview that Bitzlato will restore operations from Russia. The potential risk of a Russian criminal case should not interfere with these plans, he assured now.
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