The Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program is currently announcing reward offers of up to $10 Million (USD) each for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of Timur Shakhmametov and Sergey Ivanov for participating in, conspiring to participate in transnational organized crime.

Separate reward offers of up to $1 million each are also being offered for information leading to the identification of other leaders of the Joker’s Stash criminal marketplace (other than Shakhmametov), as well as the identification of other key leaders of the UAPS, PM2BTC, and PinPays transnational criminal groups (other than Ivanov).

In addition to sanctioning Ivanov and the Russian virtual currency exchange Cryptex, the Department of Treasury has issued an order designating PM2BTC as a “primary money laundering concern” in relation to Russian illicit finance.

Together with other U.S. government agencies and international law enforcement partners, these actions are a part of a concerted worldwide effort to disrupt Russian cybercrime services.

The U.S. Secret Service (USSS) alleges that in his capacity as the owner and developer of Joker’s Stash, one of the most lucrative online marketplaces for credit card data theft and compromised personally identifiable information, Shakhmametov used the alias “JokerStash.”

Ivanov used Joker’s Stash’s revenues as a cover.

According to USSS, Ivanov has been a dependable, long-term money laundering service provider for elite cyber-criminals since about 2005.

The actions underscore the commitment of the United States, along with its allies and partners, to not allow cyber-crime facilitators to operate with impunity.

They reiterate that they will continue to expose these money laundering networks and impose a high cost on cyber criminals and support networks; they also reiterate that the call for Russia to take concrete steps to prevent cyber-criminals from freely operating in its jurisdiction.

(The information was sourced officially from the U.S Department of State’s press release)