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Contract killers accept cryptocurrencies as payment, Russian agency says

The expert said that it is difficult to determine the person who transfers the payment

© Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. Hired assassins has begun receiving cryptocurrencies as payment for their crimes, head of the Russian Investigative Committee’s cyber and IT crimes department Konstantin Komarda said in an interview with TASS.

"We are investigating cases of professional perpetrators who are specialists in the IT sphere and feel confident in the cyber environment, who meticulously plan crimes and use the whole possible range of means to maintain their anonymity and be left unpunished, from VPN services to cyber securities. For instance, it was identified that a cryptocurrency was used as payment in contract killing cases," he noted.

Komarda added that it is difficult to determine the person who transfers the payment. In particular, when converting into regular currency the cryptocurrency is laundered through 15-20 e-wallets belonging to third parties, making them hidden among tens of thousands of other transactions before the money ends up in the hands of the person it was meant for. IT professionals and special equipment are required to analyze all this data.

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