Federal prosecutors have indicted two people accused of illegally operating a cryptocurrency that has generated more than $389 million and earned more than 10,000 Bitcoins since its launch in 2021.
Summary
- US prosecutors have charged two suspected AudiA6 operators after tracking more than $389 million through a fraudulent service.
- Authorities say the network has received more than 10,000 Bitcoin since 2021, including funds linked to darknet markets, ransomware groups and cyber crime services.
- The international operation led to arrests in Georgia, server seizures in multiple countries, and the freezing of cryptocurrency assets.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Ukrainian national Ruslan Igorevich Tkachuk, 37, and Russian national Alexander Vladimirovich Ledenev, 25, were arrested in Batumi, Georgia, on Wednesday and are awaiting extradition to the United States.
The criminal complaint accuses the couple of acting as senior members of AudiA6, a crypto-money laundering network that prosecutors say helped clients hide the origin of digital assets linked to criminal activity. Prosecutors also said both men ran the Dark2Web cybercrime platform, where AudiA6 promoted its services to users seeking to transfer illegal funds through cryptocurrency.
Court documents cited by the U.S. Attorney’s Office state that an ad posted on Dark2Web offered to hide the source of traceable cryptocurrency in exchange for payments of up to 5% of the amount laundered.
Blockchain analysis conducted during the investigation found that approximately 10,333 Bitcoin had been deposited into wallets controlled by AudiA6 since 2021, according to prosecutors.
Authorities said approximately 393.39 BTC came directly from known darknet markets, ransomware groups, cybercrime services and other identified illegal sources, while the rest of the money was indirectly traced to criminal activities.
International operations are targeted at fraud infrastructure
Information released by prosecutors shows their arrest was part of a coordinated operation involving the US Secret Service, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Europol and Eurojust, as well as law enforcement agencies from Australia, Canada, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Poland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Investigators conducted searches at three locations and targeted servers and domains located across the United States, Iceland, Germany and France. Authorities also blocked Telegram accounts allegedly used by the network, froze cryptocurrency assets and seized electronic equipment linked to the investigation.
At the same time, law enforcement agencies replaced both the clear web infrastructure and the dark web connected to the AudiA6 and the Dark2Web platform with seizure notices.
Against Tkachuk and Ledenev, prosecutors filed one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of money laundering. The charges are still suspicions, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
The case adds to a series of enforcement actions targeting cryptocurrency fraud services and funds linked to the darknet. In May, the US Department of Justice indicted German citizen Owe Martin Andresen for an alleged fraud scheme linked to Dream Market, a black market that ceased operations in 2019.
According to the DOJ, Andresen allegedly removed funds from the Dream Market administrator’s wallets before converting part of the proceeds into gold bars.
Prosecutors in that case said more than $2 million was recovered between August 2023 and April 2025, while searches revealed nearly $1.7 million in gold bars and information linked to crypto wallets and bank accounts holding another $1.2 million of the alleged money.
