Lithuanian national arrested in India for operating cryptocurrency exchange Garantex

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials have announced the arrest of Lithuanian national Aleksej Bešciokov, who is accused of running the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex. Bešciokov was apprehended in the Indian state of Kerala with the help of national authorities while on vacation with his family. The arrest was made based on US charges related to money laundering, operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Bešciokov is expected to be extradited to the US under India’s Extradition Act of 1962, following the freezing of $27 million worth of USDt on the Garantex platform and the seizure of domain names supporting its operations. The European Union and the US Department of the Treasury have also imposed sanctions on Garantex for disregarding Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism obligations.