Cases of exposure by law enforcement officers of large-scale international money laundering schemes, which are carried out using cryptocurrency, have become more frequent.
The growth of the use of cryptocurrency by Ukrainians in the system of international transactions is due to a difficult economic situation:
- war in the country
- restrictions introduced by the national regulator (NBU) in the financial system (restrictions on the circulation of cash and non-cash funds)
- restrictions related to the ban on men on leaving the country borders
Therefore, Ukrainians began to transfer their funds to cryptocurrency more often. For example, to make transfers to relatives abroad, to pay for goods or services rendered, less often to use it as additional income stream.
The demand for cryptocurrency is increasing, so there are more "crypto exchange points" where you can transfer fiat currency to a virtual asset or vice versa. Although, the activity related to operations on the exchange of fiat money for cryptocurrency is not regulated by law.
This state of affairs raises many questions for law enforcement officers. After all, "crypto exchange points" can be used by fraudsters.
We advise everyone connected with cryptocurrency to pay attention to such points. Since during searches by law enforcement officers, in the vast majority of cases, in addition to cash, all equipment is also seized together with the so-called "black bookkeeping" where all exchange transactions, including information about individuals and legal entities, are recorded.
In the future, law enforcement officers may ask such persons about the legality of their exchange operations. They may also transfer the received information to other inspection bodies that carry out financial control and verification, both in matters of legitimacy of the origin of funds and the proof of alleged financing of terrorism.
Such inspections of ordinary citizens or legal entities may lead to the initiation of criminal proceedings, verification of the nature of the origin of such funds, etc.
Thus, we recommend a more thorough approach to verify the legality of specific "crypto-exchange points" activities, to keep documents on the origin of funds, and to consult with lawyers beforehand.
Autor: Dmytro Dychakovsky, head of the White Collar Crime at the Juscutum