Aleksei Andriunin, the founder of Gotbit has been extradited to the United States of America to face wire fraud and market manipulation charges. The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts made the revelation on Wednesday. 

As disclosed, Andriunin is on his way to the US from Portugal following his arrest on October 8, 2024. During the month, a federal grand jury accused the founder of fraud alongside other directors of the organization; Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili. 

The acclaimed crypto hedge fund came under fire in May 2024 after falling victim to a trap token; NexFunAI (NEXF). More so, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation created the token to lure and apprehend bad actors manipulating the market. 

With the initiative, the FBI managed to identify market manipulators like Gotbit, CLS, and ZM Quant. Recall that in January, United Arab Emirates-based CLS Global pleaded guilty to fraud and market manipulation charges.

The company reached an agreement with the US to pay a fine of $428,059 and forfeit funds accumulated from its illegal operations. Like Gotbit, CLS also provided wash trading services for NexFunAI. 

Also, the FBI banned CLS from carrying out any transactions on cryptocurrency exchanges available to US users. It is worth mentioning that the extradition of Andriunin underlines the commitment of the FBI in combating the use of crypto for illicit activities. 

Insight into allegations against Gotbit founder 

Court documents alleged that Gotbit did some market maker services with the implementation of some software designed for wash trading. With these tools, the firm cosmetically hikes trading volumes for projects to ensure their listing in market aggregators and crypto exchanges. 

Meanwhile, Kedrov and Jalili are facing charges for marketing the strategies to projects. Government sources narrated how the company admitted devising a strategy to hide the wash trades on public blockchains. 

More revelations from official sources stated how Gotbit allegedly gained millions of dollars between 2018 to 2024 from the business operation. As indicated, Andriunin transferred a part of his profit from the illicit deals. 

The 26-year-old Russian could be facing about 20 years in prison if convicted for the wire fraud allegations. In addition, Andriunin could also pay a fine of $250,000 while forfeiting some other valuables. 

Similarly, the Gotbit founder could receive an extra five years in prison for allegations relating to conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud. 

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