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FinCEN’s Latest ‘Primary Money Laundering Concern’ Designation Targets Russia

By Fred Williams

The designation of a global cryptocurrency exchange linked by federal officials to Russian cybercrime marks the first use of a revamped measure for guarding the U.S. from illicit funds from Russia and opens the door for similar bans, sources told ACAMS moneylaundering.com. Bitzlato Ltd. constitutes a "primary money laundering concern," the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network warned Wednesday. The unprecedented designation, which FinCEN imposed under legislation adopted in January 2021, renders the exchange and its transactions untouchable for U.S. financial institutions from Feb. 1 onward. Federal authorities arrested Bitzlato's alleged founder and majority owner Anatoly Legkodymov, a 40-year-old resident of Shenzhen,...

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