ZachXBT: Russian off-exchange broker Aleks helped a ransomware gang launder over $4.7 million.

PANews reported on March 24 that on-chain analyst ZachXBT stated that Russian OTC intermediary Aleksandr Khinkis (Aleks) is accused of assisting a ransomware group in laundering money since July 2025 through a single cryptocurrency exchange account. The funds allegedly originated from three ransom payments totaling 796 BTC, equivalent to over $4.7 million. On-chain forensics show that some of the Bitcoin was transferred to Avalanche via a cross-chain bridge, then split into approximately 75 transfers to its exchange deposit address 0xa756…06e. An additional $16.6 million in related funds remains held in these addresses or on these platforms. ZachXBT stated that he has provided leads regarding these addresses and fund flows to compliance and law enforcement agencies.