A UK digital asset firm reportedly transferred millions of dollars in cryptocurrency to a wallet of an alleged Russian arms dealer who was later sanctioned by the US government.
According to a new Guardian report, the cryptocurrency firm Copper Technologies allegedly transferred more than $4.2 million in digital assets to a crypto wallet belonging to Jonatan Zimenkov, an Israeli-born Russian national.
The transfer reportedly occurred about 19 months before Zimenkov faced US sanctions for his alleged role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a February 2023 press release, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the imposition of sanctions against Jonatan and his father Igor Zimenkov. The OFAC said that the father and son duo had been involved “in multiple deals for Russian cybersecurity and helicopter sales abroad” while facilitating “Russian defense sales to third-party governments.”
On the same day, the OFAC revealed an Ethereum wallet belonging to Jonatan Zimenkov.
Copper reportedly sent the wallet about 1,700 Ethereum (ETH) in two separate transactions in May of 2021.
Says a Copper spokesperson,
“Copper takes its compliance, legal and regulatory obligations very seriously, and has acted in full compliance with all applicable regulatory standards, including all applicable sanctions prohibitions, in the UK.”
At time of writing, ETH is trading for $4,056, indicating that the transferred Ethereum stash is now worth $6.89 million.
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