A federal indictment unsealed against Iurii Gugnin alleges he laundered over $530 million using the Tether (USDT) stablecoin, raising significant concerns about vulnerabilities in cryptocurrency compliance systems.
Prosecutors claim Gugnin utilized his company, Evita Investments, to move illicit funds for sanctioned Russian banks between June 2023 and January 2025. The scheme allegedly exploited weaknesses in anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) procedures at U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchanges and financial institutions.
John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, stated that Gugnin operated a crypto company specifically to transfer illicit funds on behalf of Russian entities, bypassing sanctions.
The case is expected to intensify regulatory scrutiny of stablecoins like Tether. Potential outcomes include mandatory registration requirements for stablecoin issuers and enhanced transaction monitoring obligations for exchanges.
This indictment underscores the urgent need for the cryptocurrency industry to bolster its compliance infrastructure to prevent similar large-scale abuses and maintain financial system integrity.