Russia to Sell $10M in Bitcoin Seized in Hack Case

Russian authorities are reportedly looking to liquidate a major Bitcoin stash seized during investigations into an international cybercrime gang that operated between October 2010 and February 2018.

According to local reports, the government will initially dispose of about $10 million worth of BTC and plan to sell more than 1,000 BTC, which are currently valued at nearly $100 million.

Bitcoin Confiscated From Hackers

The assets were retrieved during a probe of the infamous Infraud hacking group, notorious for credit card-related scams around the world.

During the exercise, investigators seized 5,212 BTC belonging to the gang. However, one of the officers leading the inquiry, Major Marat Tambiev, is alleged to have met a lawyer representing several members of the Infraud organization and demanded half of the BTC in exchange for not confiscating the other half and sparing the criminals from penal detention in favor of house arrest.

According to reports, Tambiev received 1,032 BTC on April 7, 2022, but was subsequently arrested along with his assistant, Kristina Lyakhovenko. He was charged with accepting a bribe and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum security prison and a fine of over $5 million. For her part, Lyakhovenko was jailed for nine years after being found guilty of falsifying evidence.

In 2023, police found the private keys to the disgraced officer’s Bitcoin holdings in a folder labeled “Pension” on his work computer. These funds are being transferred by the Russian Treasury, with efforts to liquidate the entire stash apparently being complicated by legal hurdles.

It is alleged that Tambiev split his illicit windfall into smaller amounts and kept them in separate wallets, meaning prosecutors will have to file several requests to the court to access them all.

Further, the ex-investigator is said to have passed off some of the coins to family members, with the office of the Prosecutor-General filing a case against him and one of his uncles. The initial sale resulted from the court granting the prosecutors leave to dispose of the first batch.

Additionally, authorities are looking to sell other properties belonging to Tambiev, including real estate and motor vehicles.

Silk Road BTC Could Hit the Market

Recently, news emerged that the U.S. Justice Department had received clearance to liquidate up to 69,000 coins worth around $6.5 billion, much of which came from the defunct Silk Road online marketplace. This is despite incoming President Donald Trump urging the current administration not to sell any cryptocurrency in its holding as he and his allies look to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

Russian lawmakers have also made a similar proposal for a national BTC stockpile, encouraged by President Vladimir Putin’s public support for the asset while at an investment forum in Moscow.