Security News > 2020 > June > N.Zealand Freezes Assets of Alleged Russian Cyber Criminal
2020-06-22 17:54
New Zealand police revealed Monday they had frozen NZ$140 million in assets linked to a Russian man accused of laundering money for organised crime using cyber currency.
Police said they acted after discovering funds belonging to Alexander Vinnik, who is in custody in France facing fraud charges, were being held in a New Zealand company.
A US indictment accused him of 21 charges ranging from identity theft and facilitating drug trafficking to money laundering.
Coster said New Zealand police had worked closely with the US Internal Revenue Service on the case.
"The global criminal community need to understand New Zealand's financial system, and companies established here, are not the places to try to hide illicit income," he said.