A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia has indicted three Russian nationals allegedly involved in running the cryptocurrency mixers Blender.io and Sinbad.io.

Roman Ostapenko, Alexander Oleynik, and Anton Tarasov are accused of conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting service.

According to authorities, both mixers were used by criminals worldwide to launder funds stolen from victims of ransomware and other crimes.

Ostapenko and Oleynik were arrested on December 1, 2024, while Tarasov remains at large.

Each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison for conspiring to launder funds and up to 5 years for each count of conducting an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

Context

In May 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on the Blender.io mixer.
In November 2023, Sinbad.io was added to the sanctions list. Both mixers gained popularity after the Tornado Cash platform was blacklisted.