Overview
- OFAC placed Operation Zero (Matrix LLC), owner Sergey Zelenyuk, and related associates and firms on the SDN list, blocking U.S.-jurisdiction assets and prohibiting most dealings by U.S. persons.
- Treasury tied the broker to at least eight proprietary cyber tools stolen from a U.S. defense contractor and said the tools were resold to at least one unauthorized user.
- Former Trenchant executive Peter Williams was sentenced to 87 months after pleading guilty to stealing the exploits and selling them to Operation Zero for approximately $1.3 million in cryptocurrency.
- Designations also hit UAE-linked Special Technology Services and Advance Security Solutions, as well as Marina Vasanovich, Azizjon Mamashoyev, and Oleg Kucherov, identified as a suspected Trickbot member.
- Officials said cryptocurrency facilitated the purchases but disclosed no wallet addresses, and noted Operation Zero’s multimillion-dollar bounties and outreach to foreign intelligence services.