American crypto millionaire and founder of the scandalous SafeMoon company Kyle Nagy is hiding from the U.S. FBI in Russia, Russian Telegram channels report. According to them, Nagy had to pay a ransom of $4 million to stay in Russia. One of the people who blackmailed him turned out to be a Russian FSB agent.
Kyle Nagy is the founder of SafeMoon, an American cryptocurrency and blockchain company that launched its SafeMoon token. Thanks to star-studded advertising, the token was popular and reached a record-high market capitalization of $17 billion in April 2021. SafeMoon also launched its own cryptocurrency wallet. In November 2023, the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice charged SafeMoon and Kyle Nagy with fraud and money laundering. Since he went into hiding, he was put on a wanted list by the FBI. According to the materials of the American investigation, Kyle Nagy stole at least $200 million, and some Russian Telegram channels report that the amount is about $1 billion.
Kyle Nagy initially fled the United States to Dubai, where he met a certain Alex Kopenkin, who introduced himself as someone who is well-connected in the Russian Federation, including in the special services. When the FBI put Kyle on the wanted list, it became clear that it was not safe to stay in Dubai. Alex then recommended that Kyle go to Russia, promising that it would be the safest place for him. Citing his connections, Kopenkin offered Kyle to buy a "Golden Visa" for $1 million, which would allow him to live peacefully in Russia. On March 19, 2024, Nagi gave over $1 million in cash to Alex, and in April he flew to Moscow with his family.
He was met at the airport by two men who introduced themselves as a security guard-translator and a driver "from Alex." They took Kyle and his family to a rented cottage in an elite cottage country in the Novaya Riga residential complex. And almost immediately, they began to demand money from Nagi for Alex for the "Golden Visa." Allegedly, it costs not $ 1 million, but much more. Under the threat of physical violence against Kyle and his family members, he transferred a total of over $3 million in cryptocurrency.
As a result, Nagi turned to the police, who opened a case and detained the guard and the driver. They turned out to be Yevgeny Tsarev and Zaur Alibekov.
According to reports from Russian Telegram channels, Tsarev is an FSB agent. Kopenkin is no ordinary man either. In 2022, he was vice president of one of the largest Russian transportation and logistics companies FESCO.