Aleksej Besciokov, cofounder of the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, was arrested by Indian authorities on March 11, 2025. Police agents detained Besciokov in Varkala, Kerala, after the United States issued an extradition demand.
Indian law authorities made the public confirmation after Besciokov received his arrest warrant because he assisted North Korean hackers and cybercriminals through his exchange. Aleksej Besciokov remains in police custody because authorities have charged him with money laundering violations together with U.S. sanctions violations.
A law of extradition enabled Department of Justice officers to execute the arrest. The Patiala House Court in New Delhi authorized a detention warrant to keep Besciokov under custody.
Law enforcement officials from the U.S. Justice Department charged him with approving transactions affecting sanctioned entities, particularly North Korean computer hackers. The United States authorities state that Garantex enabled illegal financial transactions, which bypassed U.S. sanctions against North Korea.
American authorities had charged Besciokov and Aleksandr Mira Serda as co-founders of Garantex with running an alleged crypto-money laundering scheme that handled million-dollar transactions. Garantex operations received an operational redesign, which led to sanctions avoidance while the platform carried out transactions violating U.S. legal statutes. The Indian authorities arrested him after American law enforcement conducted an investigation that led to the capture of Garantex's websites.
Garantex operations have paused while they face ongoing legal proceedings. The company published an official announcement about keeping its compliance department functioning. The company outlined methods to unblock user assets through Russian asset-based compensation plans for clients. Despite the intense legal challenges, Garantex promised its users that it would provide full payment of their funds.
Law authorities from the U.S. have seized $26 million worth of cryptocurrency belonging to the exchange. The authorities monitor a major part of Garantex's operations because they investigate potential money laundering activities. User service operations have stopped completely, while the platform maintains only a compliance department to deal with this delicate situation.
Local authorities took Besciokov to court proceedings before they moved him to the Patiala House Court. The court hearings will proceed because U.S. prosecutors intend to prosecute Besciokov for his role in facilitating criminal operations at Garantex. Officials in India confirmed that Besciokov was attempting to escape before authorities caught him, indicating serious criminal charges against him.
The progressive course of the case leads to rising regulatory pressure from U.S. and international regulators on Garantex. The current probe into Garantex's business operations threatens to affect the entire regulatory status of unregulated cryptocurrency trading platforms worldwide.