T3 Financial Crime Unit Credits Public-Private Partnership for Takedown of Multinational European Financial Crime Syndicate

Spanish authorities are crediting the T3 Financial Crime Unit, a consortium made up of Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs, for helping take down a multinational European financial crime syndicate.

Spanish authorities have praised the efforts of the T3 Financial Crime Unit, a collaboration between Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs, in assisting the authorities in dismantling a multinational European financial crime syndicate.

According to the Guardia Civil of Spain, the crime syndicate spanned multiple European jurisdictions, offering cash-to-crypto laundering services to illicit organizations.

T3 claims to have frozen $26.4 million, marking it as the largest coordinated freeze the group has undertaken since its inception last year. To date, the group has reportedly frozen $126 million.

"Public-private partnerships are especially effective in cryptocurrency investigations because they combine our unique but complementary strengths," Chris Janczewski, head of investigations at TRM Labs, stated in an email to CoinDesk.

"Law enforcement contributes their traditional expertise to the investigation, while the private sector provides technical capabilities crucial to a crypto investigation," he added.

According to the statement from T3, Spanish authorities identified the organization through police surveillance, aided by various investigative measures and Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) Know Your Customer (KYC) records.

"We have a team that can speak both 'crypto' and 'cop,' including former law enforcement officials with vast experience from multiple agencies," Janczewski noted. "That has enabled us to enhance on-the-ground police work by organizations like Guardia Civil to connect on-chain activity with the tangible world."

In a statement, Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, disclosed that Tether has collaborated with over 220 law enforcement agencies in 51 jurisdictions to freeze over 2,400 addresses, totaling approximately 2.2 billion USDT.

A statement from Europol described the organized crime syndicate as "comprising mainly Ukrainian but also Armenian, Azerbaijani, or Kazakh nationals."