‘He was clueless’: Russian DJ Denis Kaznacheev was charged with laundering $310 million. Then, unexpectedly, the U.S. authorities withdrew their extradition request.

In early January, the American authorities withdrew a request to extradite Berlin-based Russian DJ Denis Kaznacheev. The U.S. had charged him with laundering hundreds of millions of dollars. As a result, a Berlin court placed Kaznacheev in pre-trial detention before releasing him on bail, while making it clear that Germany would not challenge his extradition stateside. In recent months, new details of the case have emerged: Kaznacheev was accused of running WebKazna -- a money laundering service on the dark web, -- supposedly naming the illegal business after himself. People close to the DJ think he was framed by a family friend. Meduza looks into how the story unfolded. Original Article: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/01/25/he-was-clueless