Overview

• The Department of Justice executed six warrants in courts in Virginia, California and Texas to seize more than $2.8 million in cryptocurrency, $70,000 in cash and a luxury vehicle linked to Antropenko.
• Federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Texas have indicted Ianis Aleksandrovich Antropenko on charges of conspiring to commit computer fraud and abuse and money laundering for his alleged role in the Zeppelin ransomware scheme.
• According to the indictment, Antropenko and co-conspirators deployed Zeppelin ransomware between 2019 and 2022 to encrypt and exfiltrate victims’ data and demanded ransoms to decrypt files, prevent publication or arrange deletion.
• Investigators traced ransom proceeds through the now-shuttered ChipMixer coin-mixing service, crypto-to-cash exchanges and structured cash deposits to recover illicit funds.
• This action follows recent DOJ recoveries from other ransomware groups and highlights a broader strategy of financial disruption to undercut cybercriminal networks.