Garantex

Main article: Cryptocurrency exchanges

2023: Russia passed the first verdict for p2p trading on a crypto exchange. Garantex appears in the case

In February 2023 Russia , the first verdict was passed for p2p trading on. to the cryptoexchange The Russian was sentenced to two years probation for "conspiracy with an unknown attacker," to whom the accused sold a ruble code on the Garantex cryptocurrency exchange.

According to a representative of the legal agency Cartesius, the convicted trader sold a code in the amount of 900 thousand rubles through the P2P service of the Russian exchange Garantex. However, after crediting funds to the card, her account was arrested in a criminal case of fraud, initiated on the basis of the appeal of a certain victim.

The convict sold the code for 900 thousand rubles, but after crediting the funds, his account was arrested

When the trader turned to the district department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in order to appeal the arrest of his bank account, the trader was detained. According to Cartesius, investigators put pressure on the detainee, insisting that he was in collusion with fraudsters. According to the logic of the investigation, the funds received on the trader's bank card for the transaction are the final phase of the crime, and the percentage received is a criminal reward. The charge was built around the claim that the trader "allowed the possibility of obtaining dirty money when selling codes."

As a result, the trader admitted his guilt, most likely going to a deal with investigators. The court found in the actions of the trader intent and an agreement reached in advance with the fraudsters, as well as the concealment of the criminally obtained money. The defendant was found guilty of large-scale fraud (part 3 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), but escaped with a suspended sentence. The founder of the legal agency Cartesius Ignat Likhunov said that the man got into the "triangle" - a fraudulent scheme in which three people are actually involved in transactions through the crypto exchange. According to him, due to the lack of legislative regulation of cryptocurrency turnover, such cases of stealing money and transferring it to cryptocurrency wallets of unknown persons appear often.^[1]

2022: US Treasury Department sanctions

In April 2022 U.S. Treasury Department , it imposed sanctions on the darknet marketplace, Hydra but also against cryptocurrency exchange Garantex.

It was reported that the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury (OFAC) identified more than 100 cryptocurrency addresses related to illegal transactions. An analysis of well-known Garantex transactions showed that transactions worth more than $100 million are associated with illegal entities and darknet marketplaces. Of these, almost $6 million came from the Russian hacker group Conti and about $2.6 million from Hydra.

OFAC has blocked any Hydra and Garantex property within U.S. borders. Residents and citizens of the country are prohibited from working with platforms.

2021: Exchange founder Stanislav Drugalev dies after falling from Dubai bridge

Stanislav Drugalev, a Russian entrepreneur and general director of the Karavan-Telecom telecommunications company, launched and developed IT companies, in particular Garantex, a cryptocurrency exchange with a high trading volume and a large user base that provides services in Russia and other countries of the world.

February 7, 2021 Stanislav Drugalev died. The actual cause of death is a fall from a bridge at a road junction in Dubai. The events that entailed the death of a businessman are being investigated by law enforcement agencies. The location of Stanislav's personal belongings and electronic devices is unknown.

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