Evita Investments executive charged with money laundering, bank fraud, and violations of international sanctions

The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted Iurii Gugnin on multiple charges, including money laundering, bank fraud, and violations of international sanctions.

Gugnin is the founder, President, Treasurer, and Compliance Officer of U.S.-based Evita Investments Inc. (Evita Investments) and Evita Pay Inc. (Evita Pay) (collectively, Evita).

• Gugnin allegedly processed over $500 million through his companies, Evita Pay and Evita Investments, using cryptocurrency (mainly Tether) and converting it into fiat currency via U.S. bank accounts.
• Authorities claim he circumvented U.S. sanctions by facilitating the purchase of export-controlled technology for Rosatom, the Russian state-owned nuclear technology company.
• Gugnin is accused of acting as a financial intermediary for clients linked to sanctioned financial institutions.

If convicted,

• Gugnin faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for each count of bank fraud; a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each of the wire fraud, IEEPA, money laundering, and related conspiracy counts; a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail for failure to implement an effective anti-money laundering program and failure to file suspicious activity reports; and a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

The case against him

1. Gugnin used both companies to enable foreign customers, many of whom held funds at sanctioned Russian banks, to provide him with cryptocurrency, which he then laundered through cryptocurrency wallets and U.S. bank accounts.
2. Gugnin ultimately converted the funds into U.S. dollars or other fiat currencies and then made payments through bank accounts in Manhattan on behalf of his foreign customers. In the process, the sources of the funds were obscured, disguising the audit trail and hiding the true counterparties to the transactions.
3. Between June 2023 and January 2025, Gugnin used Evita to facilitate the movement of approximately $530 million through the U.S. financial system, most of which he received in the form of a cryptocurrency stablecoin known as Tether, or “USDT.”
4. To effectuate the scheme, Gugnin defrauded various banks and cryptocurrency exchanges through which he converted funds and made wire transfers.
5. Gugnin repeatedly lied to these banks and exchanges, telling them that Evita did not conduct business with entities in Russia and did not deal with sanctioned entities.
6. Many of Gugnin’s customers were located in Russia, and he facilitated payments in funds held at sanctioned Russian banks, including PJSC Sberbank, PJSC Sovcombank, PJSC VTB Bank, and JSC Tinkoff Bank.
7. Gugnin maintained personal accounts at two sanctioned Russian banks, JSC Alfa-Bank and PJSC Sberbank, with which he transacted while residing in the United States.
8. Gugnin also facilitated payments by foreign customers to procure sensitive electronics, including an export-controlled server designed by a U.S. technology company, and laundered funds from a Moscow-based supplier to purchase parts for Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear technology company.
9. To conceal his activities, Gugnin regularly obfuscated invoices by digitally “whiting out” the names and addresses of his Russian customers.
10. Gugnin failed to implement Evita’s purported anti-money laundering program and file suspicious activity reports, as required under the Bank Secrecy Act.
11. Although Gugnin represented to banks and cryptocurrency exchanges that Evita followed rigorous anti-money laundering and know-your-customer requirements, in practice, he flouted those requirements, as well as the requirement to file reports of suspicious activities with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
12. Gugnin ultimately registered Evita Pay as a money transmitter with FinCEN and the state of Florida, but he did so by making materially false statements to the state about Evita Pay’s business. Gugnin also used a fraudulent state license to induce a cryptocurrency exchange to process transactions on his behalf.
13. In the course of his scheme, Gugnin conducted web searches that confirmed his awareness that he was breaking the law, including searches for “how to know if there is an investigation against you”; “evita investments inc. criminal records search”; “Iurii Gugnin criminal records”; “money laundering penalties US”; and “penalties for sanctions violations EU luxury goods.”
14. He also visited website pages titled “Am I being investigated?” " Signs you may be under criminal investigation?” and " What are the best ways to find out if you’re being investigated, and what can someone do when they think they might be under investigation?”

References

Founder of Cryptocurrency Payment Company Charged with Evading ...https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/founder-cryptocurrency-payment-company-charged-evading-sanctions-and-export-controls