U.s.a. authorities have arrested a Russian national under allegations of money laundering — using his Instagram that promoted his rap career as evidence against him.

Per court filings unsealed on March thirty, an FBI investigator declared that Maksim Boiko laundered money using cryptocurrencies, including via disgraced exchange BTC-e. The regime as well say that Boiko conspired with transnational organized crime organisation QQAAZZ.

Initial detainment in Miami aerodrome in January

Seemingly a resident of Los Angeles, Boiko entered the U.S. on Jan 19 carrying $20,000 in greenbacks. According to the FBI affidavit, Boiko told airport security that his money came from investments in Bitcoin and rental properties in Russia.

Skeptical of this caption, authorities would go on to arrest Boiko in Miami on March 27.

Rap career and questionable source of income

What the filings do non mention is that Boiko is likewise a small-time rapper operating under the name Plinofficial — a name also used in an electronic mail address that the FBI identified as being continued with money laundering operations.

Boiko had allegedly used email accost plinofficial@me.com to register an account on BTC-e under his real name. Co-ordinate to the FBI, "data from BTC-e showed that Boiko'southward account had received $387,964 worth of deposits and had withdrawn approximately 136 Bitcoin."

As of press time, Plinoffial's Youtube account had 336 subscribers, while his Instagram has two,363.

Social media prove

Boiko's social media presence was manifestly a cistron in the investigation. The FBI investigator testifying confronting Boiko said pictures from his Instagram are:

"Inconsistent with the practices of a legitimate business functioning and are consistent with the allegations set forth herein that Boiko has engaged in illegal money laundering activities with significant cybercriminals for the past several years."

Indeed, Boiko seems very fond of pictures of him holding big wads of greenbacks. The filing cites the below shots, posted on his Instagram on May 13, 2022 and March 24, 2022, respectively and withal viewable equally of press time:

Source: Boiko's Instagram

Source: Boiko's Instagram. Cointelegraph has blocked out an ethnic slur in i of the comments.

Though the affidavit alleges that Boiko'southward money laundering began in 2022, Cointelegraph located a similar movie on social media platform VKontakte featuring Boiko holding stacks of 5,000-ruble bills — the highest denomination currently issued in Russia:

Source: VK.com

Boiko is scheduled for a detention hearing tomorrow, April ii.

The role of BTC-eastward in laundering crypto

A major thespian in Boiko's drama is BTC-e, a crypto exchange that was shut downwardly by the U.South. Department of Justice in 2022.

This by autumn, reports circulated alleging that nearly half a billion dollars worth of BTC lost on the exchange had gone to Russian intelligence agency, the FSB.