Garantex crypto exchange admin arrested while on vacation

**Executive summary:** U.S. and international law enforcement arrested Aleksej Besciokov, a Garantex co‑founder/administrator, charged him and a co‑founder with money laundering, sanctions violations and operating an unlicensed money‑transmitting business, seized Garantex domains and servers, froze over $26M, and allege the exchange facilitated laundering for ransomware gangs, darknet markets and other criminal actors after transacting tens of billions of dollars since prior sanctions.