Iurii Gugnin, the Russian founder of cryptocurrency companies Evita Pay and Evita Investments (collectively “Evita”), recently pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to four counts in a Superseding Information filed on April 1, 2026, to resolve allegations regarding his role in a scheme to launder funds for Russian customers. On April 30, 2026, a federal judge approved the settlement in which Gugnin pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, money laundering conspiracy, and a violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for his role in the scheme. More recently, he consented to the entry of forfeiture money judgment of $1,261,500 as part of a preliminary order of forfeiture filed by federal prosecutors on May 8, 2026, and also agreed to forfeit assets that were traced to the scheme, including approximately $198,000 in cryptocurrency, $30,000 in a virtual currency wallet, and nearly $300,000 in accounts held for the benefit of Evita. Pursuant to a May 8, 2026 scheduling order, a sentencing control date was set for August 6, 2026.
In June 2025, federal prosecutors unsealed a 22-count indictment that charged Gugnin with money laundering and other offenses for allegedly moving more than $500 million in overseas payments through U.S. banks and cryptocurrency exchanges. According to federal prosecutors, Gugnin and his co-conspirators were able to launder the funds by concealing the source and true nature of the transactions. He also allegedly lied to the banks and exchanges, informing them that he did not conduct business with entities in Russian or deal with sanctioned entities, all while processing transactions with sanctioned Russian banks and enabling Russian end-users to procure sensitive U.S. technology. He was indicted, among other things, for facilitating nearly $2 billion worth of transactions, including approximately $530 million that was funneled through the United States between June 2023 and January 2025.
Preliminary Order of Forfeiture| Superseding Indictment | Docket Entries