Authorities in Europe have disrupted AudiA6, a cryptocurrency laundering service used by ransomware gangs and cybercriminal networks.
Europol, in a statement issued Thursday, said the dismantling of AudiA6 cut off a "key financial pipeline used to wash hundreds of millions in illicit profits." The service is estimated to have been used to launder more than €336 million (~$389 million) since the service was launched in 2021.
"The platform became a central hub for ransomware actors and cybercriminals seeking to cash out stolen digital assets while hiding the money trail from authorities," the agency added.
The operators of AudiA6 are suspected to have also administered a dark web cybercrime forum known as Dark2Web, where cybercriminals advertised illicit services and connected with other threat actors across the world.
As part of the operation that took place on June 10, 2026, a number of coordinated actions were carried out, including -
- The arrest of two alleged administrators of Ukrainian and Russian nationality in Georgia
- Three property searches
- Takedown of 25 domains and seizure of more than 30 servers
- Seizure of more than 80 vehicles and multiple properties in Georgia
- Freezing cryptocurrency assets worth €692,000 ($798,000) and seizure of €86,000 ($99,400) in cryptocurrency
- Blocking Telegram accounts used by the network
- Replacing the clear web and dark web websites of AudiA6 and Dark2Web with a law enforcement seizure banner
In tandem, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announced charges against the two arrested individuals - Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk, 37, and Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev, 25 - accusing them of one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and one count of sting money laundering. If convicted, both of them face a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison.
"Out of the approximately 10,333 bitcoin deposited, approximately 393.39 BTC (valued at around $19,234,331 at the time of the transactions) were received directly from known darknet markets, ransomware organizations, cybercrime services, and other illicit sources, while additional funds were deposited indirectly from illicit sources into AudiA6 wallets," the DoJ said.
Europol said the crackdown was the result of an earlier enforcement action carried out by the Polish Police that led to the arrest of an Ukrainian national in September 2025 for their alleged involvement in money laundering activities connected to the AudiA6 group.
This made it possible for authorities to initiate a forensic examination of the seized electronic devices belonging to the suspect and identify additional individuals linked to the operation.
AudiA6 has been described as an industrial-scale cryptocurrency laundering operation that relied on thousands of fraudulent exchange accounts opened using stolen or purchased identities. The criminal service has been linked to more than 15 investigations worldwide related to ransomware attacks and large-scale cryptocurrency theft.
Prior to its disruption, AudiA6 was marketed as a cryptocurrency mixing service guaranteeing anonymity and speed. It allowed customers to transfer their ill-gotten proceeds to wallets controlled by the group and received "cleaned" funds in return within an hour through a "complex chain of transactions" designed to conceal the origin of the funds.
These transactions took place over private messaging platforms, with the operators charging commissions ranging from commissions of between 3 percent and 10 percent.
"More than 6,000 Know Your Customer (KYC) records linked to money mule accounts were identified during the investigation," Europol said. "Many of the mule accounts were connected to Russian-speaking intermediaries recruited specifically to help move criminal proceeds through cryptocurrency exchanges."
AudiA6 is also said to have relied on both commercial email providers and email addresses linked to domains under their control to register money mule accounts with various cryptocurrency exchanges. The names of the domains are listed below -
- designli.pictures
- pheontx.eu
- smplfy.in
- sumato-soft.org
- technobrains.dev
- lett.email
- trayo.app
- deliverly.top
- inboxly.top
- postfast.eu
- postino.click
- inboxally.agency
- mailora.eu
- postify.email
- quix.express
- flowcomm.click
- qube.black
- deliverlett.com
- lettermail.eu
In a report published in November 2021, Intel 471 disclosed that AudiA6 required a minimum balance of 27 bitcoins and that it charged a flat service fee between 3 percent and 5.5 percent. As recently as December 2025, a TRM Labs analysis found that funds stolen from the 2022 LastPass hack were routed through Cryptex and AudiA6.
The investigation was carried out by the United States Secret Service and the IRS Criminal Investigation, along with the Polish Police and law enforcement partners from Australia, Canada, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Switzerland, and the U.K.
The findings illustrate the rise of industrial-scale cryptocurrency laundering services that enable the cybercrime economy, as well as the use of fraudulent exchange accounts, mule wallets and privacy-focused tools designed to cover up the money trail and bypass anti-money laundering controls.
"Ransomware groups and cybercriminal networks are increasingly relying on chain-hopping, decentralised exchanges and 'mixer-as-a-service' platforms to move illicit cryptocurrency across multiple blockchains within minutes, helping criminal profits disappear into the digital underground," Europol said.
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