A 42-year-old American citizen suspected by French investigators of leading a vast international money laundering network known as “Dark Bank” has been extradited from the United States to France, Le Monde reported.

Huzefa Hafiz Ismail arrived in France on Friday after being arrested in August 2024 at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. Ismail is accused of laundering the proceeds from drug trafficking by organized-crime groups and taking part in a criminal conspiracy spanning eight European countries, as well as Dubai, Turkey, and the United States, according to Le Monde. 

Investigators suspect Ismail is the person behind the Sky ECC encrypted-messaging handle “CEO/Darkbank” and that he managed multiple drug-money collection networks in France and across Europe, offering compensation in cryptocurrencies, the newspaper said. 

He is also accused of converting cryptocurrency obtained through ransomware attacks and other cybercrimes into cash, Le Monde said. French investigators from the Central Office for the Suppression of Major Financial Crime linked the alias to Ismail through message analysis and cross-referencing, according to the report.

Ismail has lived for several years in Dubai and invested in the luxury watch sector, and that he owns real estate there, including land purchased in June 2023 for nearly €10 million, according to the report. 

French investigators are also looking into Russian national, Ekaterina Zhdanova, known on Sky ECC as “Katya” or “Mona Lisa,” for her suspected role in organizing “Dark Bank” cash collections in several European countries, including France. Zhdanova was arrested in Nice in October 2023 after arriving from Dubai and is currently under house arrest, the newspaper said. 

Read more at Le Monde