The FSB detained residents of the Kostroma region for operations with bitcoins for 500 million rubles

This is the first well -known case of the “illegal extraction” of cryptocurrency, although it has no status in Russia.

The FSB and the police of the Kostroma region detained a group of three "attackers" for "illegally earned on cashing and selling cryptocurrencies." The court released them on a recognizance not to leave. This was announced by the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk.

According to the department, at first the detainees issued more than 300 banking and SIM cards for their relatives and acquaintances, with which they carried out “exchange and transfers of cryptocurrencies”. The defendants registered accounts and accounts on the network on dummies through which more than 500 million rubles were cashed.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported on the searches in which computers were seized from the detainees. In total, the police interrogated 400 witnesses and conducted 30 examinations, the contents of which were not disclosed. In a commentary on Rossiy Gazeta , representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs called this investigation "First of all in this kind in the history of the region."

The Investigative Committee for the region opened a criminal case under part 2 of Article 172 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ( illegal banking ). At the same time, the press release did not specify what exactly the illegality of the actions was. The case file went to the court for consideration on the merits. Group members faces up to seven years of imprisonment.

A video of the detention is published on the YouTube channel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It shows how people in masks broke into the office, put the suspects on the floor face down and began searches.

In Russia, cryptocurrencies and ICOs (Initial Coin Offering, the primary placement of funds) are not legalized, but at the same time they are not illegal - their status is not defined. In support of the bill on cryptocurrency , the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation were expressed, the discussion of regulation began in the State Duma. In 2014, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation called cryptocurrencies “ money surrogate ”.

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