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DOJ Charges AudiA6 Crypto Laundering Network, $389M in BTC
US charges two alleged AudiA6 operators for laundering 10,333 BTC from darknet and ransomware, exposing how crypto mixers bypass exchange AML risk scores.
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U.S. authorities charged two men with operating AudiA6, a crypto laundering service that processed more than $389 million in illicit digital assets since 2021. The network helped cybercriminals bypass exchange anti-money laundering checks, according to a newly unsealed complaint from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors said the service laundered roughly 10,333 Bitcoin tied to darknet markets, ransomware groups, and other criminal sources. Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev were arrested in Georgia as part of an international operation involving Europol, Germany, France, Iceland, the UK, Canada, and Japan.
How AudiA6 bypassed exchange AML systems
Authorities alleged AudiA6 marketed itself as a crypto mixer that could keep funds below an AML risk score of 25%. Exchanges use risk-scoring tools to flag suspicious deposits; a score that low typically avoids review. The service promised to "cut off your tails" -- blockchain traces linking transactions to crime, investigators said.
In one undercover interaction, agents told AudiA6 they wanted to mix funds from ransomware. The service agreed, took a commission of up to 5%, and returned clean crypto. In another, agents asked whether stolen ETH could be mixed. "Yes, no problem," the service replied, per the complaint.
The operation froze servers, domains, Telegram accounts, and crypto wallets. Prosecutors described a full infrastructure: darknet forums, escrow systems, exchange services, Tor sites, and cross-chain conversion tools. They called it a long-running business designed to turn exchanges into "unwitting partners" in money laundering.