Together with Vinnik, Bilyuchenko is held responsible for money laundering and diversion of cryptocurrencies and funds via the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange. After Vinnik was arrested in Greece in the summer of 2017, Bilyuchenko fled his holiday address in Greece. Upon his return to his home country of Russia, Bilyuchenko, also referred to as the “Red Admin”, is put in contact with Malofeev. “He IS under the influence of sanctions and is a supporter of Putin,” explains Eastern European expert Geert Jan Hahn. “He appears on a list of names we’ve known since MH17 was shot down in 2014,” adds Hahn.
podcasts | The cold war of cryptocurrencies
Podcast creator Eline Ronner points out that Malofeev also appears in the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) investigation into the downing of flight MH17. “As an employer, Malofeev had direct ties to MH17 convict Igor Girkin and Aleksandr Borodai (the former leader of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, ed.).” Brechtje van de Moosdijk, spokesman for the JIT, explains that Malofeev was responsible, among other things, for Borodaj becoming the leader of the region which was under Russian control. “Boroday and Malofeev are in Moscow regularly, we see it in the investigation.”
Phone call
Malofeev is also said to have eventually “pulled the strings” on another defunct crypto platform – WEX. Much of the bitcoin stolen by MtGox ended up on that platform, according to Ronner’s podcast. “A phone call between Malofeev and Bilyuchenko also surfaced, proving that Malofeev is in control of the purse.”
After the oligarch first came to the aid of the “red administrator”, the relationship between the two Russians quickly deteriorated, eventually leading to another cryptocurrency theft.
Who is Konstantin Malofeev?
Konstantin Valeryevich Malofeev (Russian: Константин Валерьевич Малофеев, born 1974) is a Russian businessman. He is the founder and owner of Marshall Capital Partners through which he invests in other companies. He is also a board member of the non-profit Safe Internet League. Additionally, Malofeev heads Tsargrad TV, a Russian Orthodox TV channel that supports President Vladimir Putin. Alexander Dugin, an influential adviser to Putin, also worked at the channel for a while and can still be seen here on a regular basis. Dugin is also known to the Dutch politician Thierry Baudet of the Forum for Democracy.
Since 2014, the oligarch has been on several European and US sanctions lists for his support of Russian paramilitaries who fought in the Donbass region in 2014. In 2017, Ukraine also placed Malofeev on the international wanted list, accusing him to create and finance illegal paramilitary groups. Since 2022, the United States has also switched to the criminal case against Malofeev.
Malofeev in the past was assisted by a former employee of Fox News to create Tsargrad TV. As a result, the United States wants to prosecute him for violating the sanctions rules.
Hear the whole story about possible connections between the Russian secret service and MtGox’s stolen bitcoins in the podcast The cold war of cryptocurrencies.
This article was made possible with support from the Special Fund for Journalistic Projects