Overview
- Law enforcement arrested Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev in Batumi, Georgia, and U.S. prosecutors charged them with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and sting money laundering.
- Investigators say AudiA6 received about 10,333 BTC since 2021, a historical value near $389 million, with roughly 393.39 BTC traced directly to darknet markets, ransomware groups and other illicit sources.
- Authorities describe AudiA6 as an industrial‑scale laundering pipeline that used thousands of fraudulent KYC‑verified ‘money‑mule’ accounts, multiple domains and servers, and a linked Dark2Web forum to market services.
- The case was built on blockchain forensics, device forensics from a September 2025 Polish arrest and six undercover transactions conducted from December 2022 through May 2026 that tested the service.
- Operations on June 10–11 led to seizure banners on AudiA6/Dark2Web sites, the takeover of 25 domains and 30+ servers, the freezing of about €692,000 and seizure of roughly €86,000 in crypto, and extradition proceedings now pending.