Authorities in Moscow’s suburbs have arrested a Telegram channel administrator suspected of extorting over 16 million rubles ($175,000) in Bitcoin. The information was confirmed by Irina Volk, the official representative of Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD).

According to law enforcement, the suspect, in collusion with a group, created a finance-related Telegram channel and threatened a company with the spread of false information linking it to illegal gambling operations.

In exchange for silence, they demanded 0.5 BTC per month. Fearing reputational damage, the company’s representatives complied with the demands.

Police managed to arrest only one of the suspects. During a search, they seized phones, computer equipment, and a list of other targeted companies.

A criminal case for extortion has been initiated against the detainee. The court has imposed a pretrial restriction prohibiting certain activities.

Earlier, in Thailand, authorities arrested four Russian nationals suspected of organizing cyberattacks using ransomware. Police claim their victims included over 1,000 companies, with total damages estimated at $16.5 million.