The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has blacklisted a Bitcoin address and an Ether address linked to Russian sanctions evasion attempts. This watchdog said that these addresses are linked to a Russian middleman dealing with arms exports. This situation speaks to the essential role of crypto in shaping modern warfare.
OFAC uncovers attempted arms sale
OFAC has blacklisted Bitcoin and Ether addresses it has linked to attempted sanctions evasion. According to a press release, Igor Zimenkov and his son Jonatan, Russian nationals, are involved. They are part of a large network of individuals and entities that have attempted to sell arms to third country governments. According to OFAC, Jonatan Zimenkov is linked to both addresses, which are themselves linked to his father and Rosoboronexport.
The latter is a company which plays the intermediary of the Russia for arms exports, says its website. The press release indicates that as part of these efforts, both Igor and Jonatan Zimenkov had direct correspondence with sanctioned Russian defense companies.
A Bitcoin address linked to Alameda Research
OFAC adds that Igor and Jonatan Zimenkov have been involved in multiple transactions for Russian cybersecurity and helicopter sales abroad. They engaged directly with potential customers of Rosoboronexport to enable the sale of Russian defense equipment. However, neither the Bitcoin address nor the Ether address has displayed any crypto at this time.
The bitcoin address does not appear to have held more than 0.01 BTC. It was last used in December 2022. As for the Ether address, it has seen over 5,400 ETH but has been dormant for almost a year. But the most interesting thing is that the Ether address received funds from another address. According to crypto analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, this is a large wallet that is very active in OTC trading. Indeed, this address received funds from Alameda Research, a trading company of Sam Bankman-Fried, now defunct.
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