Founder of Cryptocurrency Payment Company Charged with Evading Sanctions and Export Controls, Defrauding Financial Institutions, and Violating the Bank Secrecy Act

BROOKLYN, NY – Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, a 22-count indictment was unsealed charging Iurii Gugnin with wire and bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering compliance program, failing to file suspicious activity reports, money laundering, and related conspiracy charges.  Gugnin, a resident of New York and citizen of Russia, allegedly used his cryptocurrency company “Evita” to funnel more than $500 million of overseas payments through U.S. banks and cryptocurrency exchanges while hiding the source and purpose of the transactions.  Gugnin was arrested this morning and arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge Taryn A. Merkl.  The defendant was ordered detained pending trial.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General, the Justice Department’s National Security Division; Christopher G. Raia, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); Harry Chavis, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, New York (IRS-CI); and Jonathan Carson, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement, New York Field Office (BIS-OEE) announced the arrest and charges.

“As alleged, Gugnin came to the United States and set up a money laundering operation under the guise of a cryptocurrency start-up, which he then used to evade sanctions and export controls and defraud U.S. financial institutions,” stated United States Attorney Nocella.  “Today’s arrest demonstrates that this Office will vigorously prosecute those who abuse the U.S. financial system in furtherance of criminal activity, particularly when it undermines national security.”

Mr. Nocella also expressed his appreciation to the Justice Department’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section for their assistance with the investigation.

“The defendant is charged with turning a cryptocurrency company into a covert pipeline for dirty money, moving over half a billion dollars through the U.S. financial system to aid sanctioned Russian banks and help Russian end-users acquire sensitive U.S. technology,” stated Assistant Attorney General Eisenberg.  “The Department of Justice will not hesitate to bring to justice those who imperil our national security by enabling our foreign adversaries to sidestep sanctions and export controls.”

“Iurii Gugnin, a Russian national, allegedly served as a financial intermediary to sanctioned Russian entities by covertly laundering more than $500 million in illicit transactions through U.S.-based accounts and cryptocurrency exchanges,” stated FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge Raia.  “Gugnin’s alleged scheme manipulated our nation’s financial infrastructure to benefit our nation's adversaries. The FBI remains committed to apprehending any individual who seeks to circumvent export controls, defraud our country, and jeopardize our national security.”

“It’s alleged Gugnin used deception and fraud to cover up a financial trail that showed him moving more that $500 million through U.S. banks on behalf of foreign clients.  He supposedly evaded U.S. sanctions, lied to banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, manipulated invoices to hide Russian contacts, and violated the Bank Secrecy Act – all while leaving an internet search trail to show he knew he was breaking the law.  Through a complex investigation conducted by federal law enforcement, Gugnin now faces prosecution for this multi-million-dollar scheme and its impending consequences,” stated IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Chavis.

“Export control violations are often intertwined with a range of serious criminal activities, including illicit finance and transnational organized crime. The Office of Export Enforcement remains committed to working alongside our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who compromise our national security by violating U.S. export laws,” stated Special Agent in Charge Carson.”

As alleged in the indictment, Gugnin is the founder, President, Treasurer, and Compliance Officer of U.S-based Evita Investments, Inc. (Evita Investments) and Evita Pay, Inc. (Evita Pay) (collectively, Evita).  Gugnin used both companies to enable foreign customers—many of whom held funds at sanctioned Russian banks—to provide him with cryptocurrency, which he then laundered through cryptocurrency wallets and U.S. bank accounts.  Gugnin ultimately converted the funds into U.S. dollars or other fiat currencies and then made payments through bank accounts in Manhattan on behalf of his foreign customers.  In the process, the sources of the funds were obscured, disguising the audit trail and hiding the true counterparties to the transactions.  Between June 2023 and January 2025, Gugnin used Evita to facilitate the movement of approximately $530 million through the U.S. financial system, most of which he received in the form of a cryptocurrency stablecoin known as Tether, or “USDT.” 

To effectuate the scheme, Gugnin defrauded various banks and cryptocurrency exchanges through which he converted funds and made wire transfers.  Gugnin repeatedly lied to these banks and exchanges, telling them that Evita did not conduct business with entities in Russia and did not deal with sanctioned entities.  In fact, many of Gugnin’s customers were located in Russia, and he facilitated payments in funds held at sanctioned Russian banks, including PJSC Sberbank, PJSC Sovcombank, PJSC VTB Bank, and JSC Tinkoff Bank.  Gugnin maintained personal accounts at two sanctioned Russian banks, JSC Alfa-Bank and PJSC Sberbank, with which he transacted while residing in the United States.  Gugnin also facilitated payments by foreign customers to procure sensitive electronics, including an export-controlled server designed by a U.S. technology company, and laundered funds from a Moscow-based supplier to purchase parts for Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear technology company.  To conceal his activities, Gugnin regularly obfuscated invoices by digitally “whiting out” the names and addresses of his Russian customers. 

Gugnin also failed to implement Evita’s own purported anti-money laundering program and failed to file suspicious activity reports, as required under the Bank Secrecy Act.  Although Gugnin represented to banks and cryptocurrency exchanges that Evita followed rigorous anti-money laundering and know-your-customer requirements, in practice he flouted those requirements, as well as the requirement to file reports of suspicious activities with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).  Gugnin ultimately registered Evita Pay as a money transmitter with FinCEN and the state of Florida but did so by making materially false statements to the state of Florida about Evita Pay’s business.  Gugnin used that fraudulently obtained state license to induce a cryptocurrency exchange to process transactions on his behalf. 

In the course of his scheme, Gugnin conducted web searches that confirmed his awareness that he was breaking the law, including searches for “how to know if there is an investigation against you”; “evita investments inc. criminal records search”; “Iurii Gugnin criminal records”; “money laundering penalties US”; and “penalties for sanctions violations EU luxury goods.”  He also visited website pages titled, respectively “am I being investigated?”; “signs you may be under criminal investigation”; and “what are the best ways to find out if you’re being investigated and what can someone do when they think they might be under investigation.”

The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

If convicted, Gugnin faces up to 30 years’ imprisonment on the bank fraud counts; 20 years’ imprisonment for the wire fraud, IEEPA, money laundering, and related conspiracy counts; 10 years’ imprisonment for failure to implement an effective anti-money laundering program and failure to file suspicious activity reports; and 5 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to defraud the United States and operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Today’s actions were coordinated through the Justice and Commerce Departments’ Disruptive Technology Strike Force.  The Disruptive Technology Strike Force is an interagency law enforcement strike force co-led by the Departments of Justice and Commerce designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains, and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation states.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and Cybercrime Section.  Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Skurnik is in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from paralegal specialist Emma Tavangari, along with Trial Attorney Dallas Kaplan of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.  Assistant United States Attorney Laura Mantell of the Office’s Asset Recovery Section is handling forfeiture matters.

The Defendant:

IURII GUGNIN (also known as “Iurii Mashukov” and “George Goognin”)
Age:  38
New York, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 25-CR-191 (NRM)