International sting shuts down $390M crypto money-laundering ring

Written by Martin Youngstaff writerReviewed by Felix Ngstaff editorWritten by Martin Youngstaff writerReviewed by Felix Ngstaff editorInternational sting shuts down $390M crypto money-laundering ringLatest NewsPublishedJun 12, 2026Eleven countries were involved in the joint operation that ended the AudiA6 crypto laundering ring and Dark2Web marketplace. An international law enforcement operation among 11 countries has shut down AudiA6, a money laundering ring that processed over 336 million euros ($390 million) in illicit funds between 2022 and 2025.On Wednesday, authorities arrested two administrators, Russian and Ukrainian nationals, in Georgia, seized 25 domains and more than 30 servers and 80 vehicles and froze roughly $900,000 in cryptocurrency, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) said Thursday.The AudiA6 “mixer-as-a-service” was used by cybercriminals involved in ransomware attacks to cash out stolen crypto and conceal the movement of illicit funds from authorities by offering to “clean” crypto within about an hour for a 3% to 10% commission.Since 2021, AudiA6 wallets received approximately 10,333 BTC, valued at around $389 million at the time the transactions occurred, Chainalysis reported. The cybercrime syndicate behind the service is also reportedly running a separate marketplace forum known as “Dark2Web”, which is used to advertise illicit services and connect cybercriminals worldwide, according to Eurojust. The investigation involved agencies from the United States, Australia, France, Poland, Georgia, Iceland, Canada, Germany, Japan, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, coordinated through Eurojust and Europol. Fake KYC accounts used in schemeThe crypto laundering ring was facilitated by thousands of fraudulent accounts using stolen or purchased identities. More than 6,000 Know Your Customer (KYC) records linked to “money mule accounts” were identified during the investigation, Eurojust said. Many of those accounts wer…

International sting shuts down $390M crypto money-laundering ring

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