Quick overview

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Evita’s founder, a  US-based cryptocurrency payments company, was charged by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn with running what they claim was a complex global money laundering scheme that transferred more than half a billion dollars on behalf of Russian banks and other organizations that were subject to sanctions.

 

Manhattan resident Iurii Gugnin, 38, is a Russian national who was arrested, charged, and ordered to be detained without bail until trial on Monday.

Gugnin is charged in a 22-count indictment with wire and bank fraud, money laundering, violating export controls and US sanctions, and neglecting to follow legally mandated anti-money laundering procedures.

According to a statement from Assistant Attorney General Eisenberg, the defendant is accused of transforming a cryptocurrency company into a clandestine conduit for illicit funds, transferring more than half a billion dollars through the US financial system to support sanctioned Russian banks and assist Russian end users in obtaining sensitive US technology.

 Gugnin processed payments totaling approximately $530 million through his businesses, Evita Investments and Evita Pay, while hiding the sources and uses of the money.

He allegedly channeled funds through US banks and cryptocurrency exchanges between June 2023 and January 2025 using Tether, a popular, dollar-pegged stablecoin.