AudiA6 Crypto Laundering Network Charged in $389M U.S. Case

Details released by prosecutors show the arrests formed part of a coordinated operation involving the U.S. Secret Service, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Europol and Eurojust, alongside law enforcement agencies from Australia, Canada, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Poland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Investigators carried out searches at three properties and targeted servers and domains located across the United States, Iceland, Germany and France. Authorities also blocked Telegram accounts allegedly used by the network, froze cryptocurrency assets and seized electronic devices linked to the investigation.

At the same time, law enforcement agencies replaced both the clear web and dark web infrastructure connected to AudiA6 and the Dark2Web forum with seizure notices.

For Tkachuk and Ledenev, prosecutors have filed one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and one count of sting money laundering. The charges remain allegations, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

The case adds to a series of enforcement actions targeting cryptocurrency laundering services and darknet-linked funds. In May, the U.S. Department of Justice charged German citizen Owe Martin Andresen over an alleged laundering scheme tied to Dream Market, a darknet marketplace that ceased operations in 2019.

According to the DOJ, Andresen allegedly moved funds from dormant Dream Market administrator wallets before converting part of the proceeds into gold bars.

Prosecutors in that case said more than $2 million was laundered between August 2023 and April 2025, while searches uncovered approximately $1.7 million in gold bars and information linked to crypto wallets and bank accounts holding another $1.2 million in suspected proceeds.