Overview

• The warrants authorized seizure of more than $2.8 million in cryptocurrency, $70,000 in cash and a luxury vehicle from a wallet linked to Ianis Aleksandrovich Antropenko.
• Antropenko faces indictment in the Northern District of Texas on charges including conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, computer fraud and abuse, and money laundering for deploying the Zeppelin ransomware strain.
• Prosecutors allege the seized assets stem from ransomware extortion and were laundered through services such as ChipMixer and by converting cryptocurrency into cash via structured deposits.
• The operation involves the FBI’s Dallas and Norfolk Field Offices, the bureau’s Virtual Assets Unit and prosecutors from CCIPS alongside U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Texas, Virginia and California.
• Several crypto-focused outlets report the assets may be folded into the federal government’s expanding crypto reserve even as official statements highlight ongoing forfeiture proceedings.