U.S. OFAC announces sanctions against Russian national and virtual currency money launderer Ekaterina Zhdanova

On November 3, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against Russian national Ekaterina Zhdanova for her role in laundering money and transferring funds using virtual currencies on behalf of Russian elites. Brian E. Nelson, Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury, said: "Through key facilitators like Zhdanova, Russian elites, ransomware groups, and other illicit actors seek to evade US and international sanctions, especially through the abuse of virtual currencies. OFAC will continue to focus on protecting the US and international financial system against those who seek to exploit this technology and other illicit financial risks in the virtual asset ecosystem." As a result of today's action, all property and property interests of the designated individual located in the US or owned or controlled by US individuals will be frozen and must be reported to OFAC.