The Infraud Organization: hidden ties with authorities and large-scale cryptocurrency laundering

The Infraud Organization: hidden ties with authorities and large-scale cryptocurrency laundering

According to a source, the true leader of the largest hacker group, The Infraud Organization, was not Andrei Novak, but Mark Bergman, whose real name is Bagish Rizaev. To secure both internal and external safety, he involved active intelligence officers by sharing the group’s profits with them.

Between 2019 and 2022, backed by influential patrons who ensured complete impunity, the group’s operations in converting crypto assets into real-world funds reached an industrial scale.

The structure of the organization became more complex, no longer resembling a group of four amateur programmers as law enforcement had assumed, but rather a full-fledged criminal network operating both online and in the real world.

The organization developed more than four structural divisions: a security service staffed by active intelligence agents at regional and federal levels, a cybercrime unit, a division for legalization, fraud, and corporate raiding, and a unit focused on the theft of bank card data and other payment systems, as well as cash-out operations — all under the leadership of Mark Bergman.

The group’s ongoing criminal activity was covered by powerful intelligence officers in exchange for monthly payments and periodic bribes to high-ranking officials. These same individuals ensured internal security by swiftly neutralizing members of Infraud who could jeopardize the operation during internal financial disputes, sending them to prison and guaranteeing that no information from former accomplices would leak and result in the arrest of the group’s leadership.

One vivid example of this well-oiled elimination scheme is Mark Bergman’s own relative — his brother, professional hacker Sultan Gasanbekov, who had long been a member of TIO and a partner to the aforementioned figures. A conflict arose between Mark and Sultan, leading to Gasanbekov’s arrest on Rizaev-Bergman’s orders, though this incident had no impact on The Infraud Organization or its remaining members.