Payeer is a crypto exchange and ecommerce payment service. According to its website, it allows users to exchange between euros, United States dollars and Russian rubles, as well as between different cryptocurrencies. It also allows withdrawals via debit cards and provides an API for merchants to accept cryptocurrencies as payment for goods and services.
The FNTT began investigating Payeer in 2023. It discovered that the company had originally been registered and licensed in neighbouring Estonia, but this license was revoked on 17 January 2023. The company then continued operating out of a headquarters registered in Lithuania.
The agency claimed that Payeer failed to adequately identify its customers’ identities. In addition, it allowed transfers to be made in Russian rubles and through sanctioned Russian banks.
The FNTT stated that Payeer.com allowed transactions to be carried out in Russian rubles, transferring them from and to Russian banks sanctioned by the European Union. The authority claimed that these transactions have been occurring ‘for more than 1.5 years.’ During this time, Payeer ’was found to have at least 213 thousand customers, and the company’s revenue amounted to more than EUR 164 million.
The agency reported that it tried to contact Payeer and convince it to stop allowing the sanctioned transactions, but it ‘did not cooperate, did not provide clarification.’
The fines consisted of two parts. The first was a EUR 8.23 million fine for violations of international sanctions, and the second was a EUR 1.06 million fine for ‘violations of the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (PPTFP).’
FNTT said Payeer has the right to appeal the decision.
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