Russian Supreme Court Classifies Illicit Crypto Use Under Money Laundering Laws

The Russian Supreme Court has included the illicit use of cryptocurrencies in the list of criminal offences related to money laundering, local legal news site Pravo reported on Tuesday, Feb. 26.

The court has introduced new amendments to the anti-money laundering decree issued in July 2015.

These clarifications relate to Russian criminal code articles dedicated to the legalization of property acquired via criminal means.

According to Alexander Chervotkin, a judge who commented on the regulations, in the three years since the decree was signed, cryptocurrencies have became widely used by criminals.

To prove that, the judge cited several cases in Russian legal practice where drug dealers converted crypto assets into fiat.

From now on, cryptocurrencies that were acquired via criminal means and then converted into fiat money will be considered as laundered funds and treated as a criminal offence.

The Supreme Court avoids giving legal definition to cryptocurrencies, as the term has not yet been introduced by the Russian government.

Converting crypto to fiat per se cannot be considered a crime.

The court first must prove that the digital assets were obtained by criminal means.

Russian parliament is considering a proposal to create an oil-backed crypto - an idea that closely resembles the Petro, a state-owned crypto in Venezuela launched in February of last year.