‘$50 Million Per Day’: Feds Say the Miami Broker Behind ‘TheAlienEx’ Worked for a Russian Laundering Network

What does the federal complaint against Pavel Kulizhnikov say about TheAlienEx and the “JUST Team”?

A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) affidavit unsealed in federal court in Florida on October 21, 2026, says Pavel Alekseyevich Kulizhnikov brokered cash-for-cryptocurrency deals for the “JUST Team,” a unit of what agents call a Russian money laundering organization. According to the affidavit, a confidential source estimated that the JUST Team launders approximately $50 million per day. The affidavit names @TheAlienEx_manager as one of Kulizhnikov’s Telegram usernames. That account is the listed manager of TheAlienEx, a public Telegram channel that advertises cash exchange between Moscow and Miami. Kulizhnikov is charged with money laundering conspiracy and, as of October 23, 2026, has not been convicted.

Other October sanctions reporting covers Iraq’s International Development Bank, which Treasury sanctioned on October 15, 2026, and says sent Iran dollars, and Whales Shipping Line, which Treasury sanctioned on October 21, 2026.

What Is Kulizhnikov Charged With?

The case is United States v. Pavel Alekseyevich Kulizhnikov, No. 0:26-mj-06603-PAB in the Southern District of Florida. It is a magistrate case that moves a sealed complaint from the Eastern District of Virginia, No. 1:26-MJ-407, to Florida, where Kulizhnikov was arrested on October 20, 2026, according to the court docket. U.S. Magistrate Judge John F. Anderson in Alexandria signed the complaint on October 14, 2026. The complaint and affidavit were entered on the Florida docket on October 21, 2026.

The complaint names three defendants: Kulizhnikov, also known as “Pasha” and “Panprezident1,” and two people whose names are redacted. It charges Kulizhnikov and one redacted co-defendant with money laundering conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h), with two objects: concealment and sting. A sting count covers money that agents represented as drug proceeds. The second redacted defendant is charged with conspiracy to run an unlicensed money transmitting business, under 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 1960, according to the affidavit. As of October 23, 2026, Kulizhnikov has been charged but not convicted in the case, and he is presumed innocent.

At his first appearance in Fort Lauderdale on October 21, Kulizhnikov appeared with a Russian interpreter before U.S. Magistrate Judge Panayotta D. Augustin-Birch, according to the minutes. The court appointed the Federal Public Defender’s office for the removal proceedings, and Assistant Federal Public Defender Jan Christopher Smith represented him. Kulizhnikov waived identity and detention hearings in Florida. The judge committed him to the Eastern District of Virginia, and he is held pending a detention hearing there. No other lawyer is listed on the Florida docket.

What Is the JUST Team, and Where Does “$50 Million Per Day” Come From?

DEA Special Agent Melissa Schneider wrote the affidavit. She said the DEA, Customs and Border Protection, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the FBI were jointly investigating “a Russian money laundering organization (the “MLO”) involved in the laundering of proceeds from drug trafficking and other illicit activity” in the United States, Russia, Colombia, the United Kingdom, other European countries, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and elsewhere.

The MLO is split into “teams,” the affidavit says. One is led by an unnamed suspect the affidavit calls Unidentified Co-Conspirator 1 (UCC-1). Schneider wrote: “Unidentified Co-Conspirator 1 (UCC-1) is a leader of an MLO team known as the JUST WORLD PRO CRYPTO TEAM or JUST HOLLYWOOD STARS (the “JUST Team”).” Members, she said, often brand their Telegram accounts with the team name and their roles.

The scale comes from an informant. A confidential source the affidavit calls CS7, who is working in hopes of sentencing consideration in a case involving money laundering charges and sanctions, described the JUST Team this way, according to the affidavit:

“The JUST Team is comprised of approximately ten (10) principals, but they have cashiers/couriers in each country to pick up bulk cash. CS7 noted that although some MLO members are wary of operating in Latin America, since too many of the clients there are involved with drugs and guns and therefore are more likely to draw law enforcement attention, UCC-1 readily accepted these contracts. CS7 estimated the JUST Team launders approximately $50 million per day.”

UCC-1 described the network’s reach in a 2021 call. On or about May 10, 2021, in a consensually recorded call with a DEA undercover officer, UCC-1 “continued explaining the MLO’s operating structure,” according to the affidavit. The affidavit does not identify UCC-1 by name, and it does not say Kulizhnikov took part in that call.

“We have two offices in Moscow, one in Belarus, one in Barcelona, one in London. We have a lot of – also in Miami, we have a cashier, it’s my friend. I want him to represent us in the meeting.”

Later in the same call, UCC-1 said, “We work 40 countries, we work.”

That is a source’s estimate, not a finding by a court. The affidavit separately says a leaked JUST Team ledger posted online listed about 12,000 transactions from April 2024 to August 2025, with U.S. dollar transactions alone totaling “approximately $148,683,415.”

Kulizhnikov’s place in that structure is spelled out in paragraph 7. “KULIZHNIKOV is a cryptocurrency reseller/broker affiliated with the JUST Team, primarily based in the Miami, Florida, area but operating throughout the United States,” the affidavit says. It says he dispatches cashiers and couriers, makes some cash handoffs himself, and arranges bank wire or crypto payouts. The affidavit does not say he is a JUST Team principal.

A second source, CS11, identified “Panprezident1” as a Miami-based JUST Team broker and picked Kulizhnikov out of a photo, the affidavit says. The leaked ledger lists about 37 transactions with “Panprezident1” from March to July 2025, totaling “approximately $1,499,260,” according to the affidavit.

How Does the Affidavit Tie Kulizhnikov to TheAlienEx?

Through a Telegram handle. Schneider wrote: “For example, one of KULIZHNIKOV’s Telegram usernames is @TheAlienEx_manager.” She said that as recently as July 2026, its public profile advertised “EXCHANGE USDT [U.S. flag emoji] MIAMI” and listed business hours.

The account came up again in the June 2026 sting. A source called CS10 texted Kulizhnikov at @TheAlienEx_manager, and “CS10 noted that this Telegram account is associated with KULIZHNIKOV’s business, U.S. MTEX GROUP LLC, and is also used by KULIZHNIKOV to coordinate cryptocurrency transactions,” according to the affidavit. Elsewhere, the affidavit calls U.S. MTEX GROUP LLC “KULIZHNIKOV’s front business.”

The account still exists on Telegram. Its profile, as captured in OctoProbe’s investigation, displayed the name TheAlienEx and the bio “ID:5900569749 | EXCHANGE USDT 🇺🇸 MIAMI,” next to a private invite link to the TheAlienEx channel.

What Does the TheAlienEx Channel Advertise?

The TheAlienEx channel is titled “TheAlienEx | Обмен валют | Майами ↔ Москва” — “TheAlienEx | Currency Exchange | Miami ↔ Moscow” (Translation.). It has about 240 subscribers. Its description routes exchange requests to @TheAlienEx_manager. The affidavit does not mention the channel by name. The link to Kulizhnikov runs through the manager handle the affidavit attributes to him.

On April 25, 2025, the channel announced a new brand: “Сегодня мы — TheAlienEx, обновлённый бренд с амбициозным подходом и технологичным сервисом” — “Today we are TheAlienEx, a renewed brand with an ambitious approach and a high-tech service” (Translation.). The post listed three core services:

• “USDT ⇆ USD — мгновенный обмен криптовалюты по лучшему курсу” — “USDT ⇆ USD — instant cryptocurrency exchange at the best rate” (Translation.)
• “RUB ⇆ USD (наличные в Москве и Майами) — надёжно, быстро и безопасно” — “RUB ⇆ USD (cash in Moscow and Miami) — reliable, fast, and safe” (Translation.)
• “Инвойсы для бизнеса — прозрачные переводы и помощь с документооборотом” — “Invoices for business — transparent transfers and help with paperwork” (Translation.)

It closed: “Свяжитесь с нашим менеджером — @TheAlienEx_manager” — “Contact our manager — @TheAlienEx_manager” (Translation.).

The invoice line sits beside an allegation in the affidavit. CS10 told agents Kulizhnikov “typically incorporates falsified invoices for business services into his transaction processing,” the affidavit says. After the June 2026 sting, Kulizhnikov asked for “separate fraudulent invoices for the four wire transfers,” styled as payments for “marketing services.” The channel’s posts do not mention fake invoices.

A May 29, 2025, post introduced the channel’s managers under a banner reading “МЕНЕДЖЕРЫ THE ALIEN EX” — “Managers, The Alien Ex” (Translation.). It said they would help “оплатить инвойс” — “pay an invoice” (Translation.). On March 12, 2026, the channel warned customers about impostor accounts and named its only official contacts: “группа @TheAlienEx и менеджер @TheAlienEx_manager (ID:5900569749)” — “the group @TheAlienEx and the manager @TheAlienEx_manager (ID:5900569749)” (Translation.).

The channel’s most recent post went up on October 15, 2026, five days before Kulizhnikov’s arrest. It offered to “обменять USDT на USD” — “exchange USDT for USD” (Translation.) and “получить наличные доллары” — “get cash dollars” (Translation.) in Miami.

What the Channel Advertised

Telegram’s own “Channel created” marker dates the channel to December 12, 2021. Its earliest post still visible is dated November 17, 2022; any earlier posts may have been deleted. That first post, now pinned, said: “Наша компания оказывает помощь в переводе денежных средств из 🇷🇺 в 🇺🇸 и в обратном направлении” — “Our company helps transfer money from 🇷🇺 to 🇺🇸 and in the opposite direction” (Translation.). It added: “Даете кэш в одной стране забираете кэш в другой” — “You give cash in one country, you pick up cash in another” (Translation.). Its selling points included “Время перевода средств от 12 часов” — “Transfer time from 12 hours” (Translation.) and “Перевод любой суммы” — “Transfer of any amount” (Translation.).

The last selling point read: “Нас не интересует происхождение Ваших денег, переводим любые ⚪️&⚫️” — “We are not interested in the origin of your money; we transfer any ⚪️&⚫️” (Translation.). White and black circles are emoji commonly used to mean “white” and “black” money, Russian shorthand for clean and dirty funds. Step-by-step instructions posted the same day described card transfers in rubles to “нашему сотруднику в Москве” — “our employee in Moscow” (Translation.) and cash handed over in Miami.

From November 2022 to March 2023, the channel posted more than 100 morning rate sheets. A March 4, 2023, rate sheet offered: “Переведем ваши ₽ в $ в США” — “We will transfer your ₽ into $ in the USA” (Translation.), as well as in Spain, Canada, and Thailand, and listed the dollar at 78.7. Under “Перевод Наличных” — “Cash transfer” (Translation.), it listed “Прием ₽: Москва, Иркутск, Казань” — “Rubles accepted: Moscow, Irkutsk, Kazan” (Translation.) and “Выдача $: Miami, Los Angeles” — “Dollars paid out: Miami, Los Angeles” (Translation.), for a 4% commission up to $3,000 and 3% above that. It offered to buy and sell USDT in Miami and Los Angeles at the same commissions.

After the rebrand, a June 10, 2025, post ran under the heading “Почему вам стоит выбрать TheAlienEx” — “Why you should choose TheAlienEx” (Translation.) and promised speed and security, a personal approach, minimal commissions, and 24/7 support. It named one route, “Москва ↔ Майами — мост между валютами, странами и возможностями” — “Moscow ↔ Miami — a bridge between currencies, countries, and opportunities” (Translation.), and the same three services, including “Инвойсы для бизнеса — прозрачные переводы и помощь с документооборотом” — “Invoices for business — transparent transfers and help with paperwork” (Translation.). The channel advertises invoices for business; the complaint alleges that Kulizhnikov uses falsified invoices for business services in his transactions (p. 17). The post sent customers to @TheAlienEx_manager.

What Do Agents Say Happened in the Undercover Deals?

The affidavit describes fourteen undercover transactions brokered by Kulizhnikov or a redacted co-defendant from June 2024 to August 2026. In each, agents handed over cash they represented as drug proceeds, and USDT, the Tether stablecoin pegged to the dollar, came back minus a commission, the affidavit says. Eleven of them, from July 2024 to September 2025, took place in New York and South Florida. Kulizhnikov personally collected the cash in the last three of those eleven, it says, at $150,000 to $200,000 each.

At one of those handoffs, on June 24, 2025, he said he was picking up cash himself because two cashiers had stolen from him, according to the affidavit. Asked how much the first took, he replied, “A million [$1 million].”

The Virginia charges come from two 2026 deals with CS10. In June, CS10 told Kulizhnikov at a Starbucks in Aventura, Florida, about associates in Alexandria who “sell, of course, white . . . good kokos [Russian slang term for cocaine],” the affidavit says. On June 30, agents sent about 178,590 USDT to his wallet. Wires totaling about $175,000 from four U.S. company accounts reached an undercover account in Fairfax County that day and the next.

On August 16, 2026, Kulizhnikov arrived in a rental vehicle at a parking lot in Alexandria and took about $100,000 in cash that CS10 described as cocaine proceeds, the affidavit says. The next day, he sent a 100 USDT test transfer and then about 94,400 USDT, keeping a 5.5% commission.

What Does the Affidavit Say About His Crypto Wallets?

Agents tied at least 43 cryptocurrency addresses directly to Kulizhnikov, using blockchain records, records from the Bybit exchange for an account in his name, and other evidence, the affidavit says. All the undercover payouts used USDT on the TRON blockchain. Ten addresses that paid out the fourteen undercover deals “processed a total transaction volume of over $71 million from in or around April 2022 to August 2026,” it says.

The affidavit also says Financial Crimes Enforcement Network records show no money services business registration filed by Kulizhnikov or “his business (U.S. MTEX GROUP LLC)” from January 2020 through August 2026, according to the affidavit.

Kulizhnikov’s Florida Companies

Kulizhnikov is the listed authorized member of three active Florida limited liability companies. MyTeaSupply LLC and Royal Commerce Empire LLC surfaced in public records reviewed by OctoProbe and were confirmed in Florida Division of Corporations filings.

The affidavit calls US MTEX GROUP LLC Kulizhnikov’s business and says CS10 described him wiring funds from it. It was formed on January 4, 2023, as KULIZHNIKOV LLC at 3040 NE 190TH ST, APT.305, MIAMI, FL 33180, and renamed on June 7, 2024. Its 2025 report listed Apt 718 in Dania Beach as its principal address. On December 17, 2025, the company changed that address to Suite 705-6 at 2500 E Hallandale Beach Blvd, according to its state record, and its 2026 report lists the suite. Its mailing address, 1445 Dolgner Pl, Ste 13, in Sanford, is the address of I Love Accounting, LLC, an active Sanford company formed in 2021, according to its state record.

The two newer companies share those addresses. MyTeaSupply LLC was formed on September 23, 2025, with Kulizhnikov’s Dania Beach apartment as its principal and mailing address. Royal Commerce Empire LLC was formed on December 4, 2025, at Suite 705-6, 13 days before MTEX moved its principal address to the same suite. I Love Accounting is the registered agent for both. Each company’s 2026 annual report carries Kulizhnikov’s electronic signature, MyTeaSupply’s on April 29, 2026, and Royal Commerce’s on April 30, 2026.

Both companies were formed in late 2025, within the period the affidavit covers, which runs from 2021 to August 2026. The complaint does not name either company, and the affidavit does not tie either one to the conduct it describes.

A tea shop, mytea.co, says on its terms page that “This website is operated by myteasupply llc (“mytea”, “we”, “us”, or “our”), a Florida limited liability company.” Florida lists one company by that name. The site sells Chinese loose-leaf teas, and its terms send disputes to arbitration in Hallandale, Florida. An Instagram account that calls itself mytea.co has about 20 followers. Royal Commerce Empire’s filings do not describe its business.

Boris Kulizhnikov is Pavel Kulizhnikov’s older brother, according to his University of Pittsburgh swimming roster page, or Pitt bio, which says he “Has one brother, Pavel.” He swam for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Pitt from 2014 to 2018, and before that for the Dinamo club in Moscow. Records reviewed by OctoProbe show a vehicle registered to Boris Kulizhnikov at the same Dania Beach apartment listed for Pavel Kulizhnikov and MyTeaSupply LLC. The founder’s story on mytea.co’s About Us page is signed “Boris.” The page says, “I source directly from producers I trust,” and lists “FIVE TEA-GROWING REGIONS” in China: Zhejiang, Yunnan, Fujian, Guangdong, and Anhui provinces. “Working alongside a dedicated sourcing partner, we bypass conventional middleman markups,” it says. Boris Kulizhnikov is not named in the complaint and is not accused of wrongdoing, and the complaint does not name MyTeaSupply LLC.

A BMW M4 and Nearly a Dozen Tickets

Kulizhnikov has two leased vehicles registered in his name at the Dania Beach apartment listed on his companies’ filings: a 2026 BMW M4 Competition, a sports coupe with a base price of about $91,500, and a Volkswagen SUV, according to records reviewed by OctoProbe and Florida motor vehicle records. The BMW was registered in July 2026, about a month before the August 16, 2026, cash pickup described in the affidavit, which says he arrived at that meeting in a rental vehicle. He was first issued a Florida driver’s license in December 2022, weeks before he formed his first company.

The same records and Florida court records show nearly a dozen civil traffic citations from eight stops since June 2023. Most allege illegal window tint or reflective windshields. Others allege that he disobeyed a stop sign or traffic-control device or was speeding, including a January 2026 citation for allegedly speeding on a limited-access highway in north Florida’s Columbia County. Many were dismissed or ended with adjudication withheld. All are civil traffic infractions, not criminal charges, and the complaint does not mention them.

What Did OctoProbe’s Investigation Find?

OctoProbe’s investigation links Kulizhnikov’s name, the @TheAlienEx_manager profile, the TheAlienEx channel, and the Florida docket in one graph. It extracted the handles thealienex_manager (pages 13 and 19) and panprezident1 (pages 17 and 30) and the company U.S. MTEX GROUP LLC from the 48-page filing. The manager profile’s bio, as captured, carried Telegram account ID 5900569749 and an invite link that opens the TheAlienEx channel, and the channel names that same ID as its official manager.

The graph also holds MTEX’s state filings and the Telegram account @Panprezident1, which the affidavit says is one of Kulizhnikov’s usernames. That account is still public under the display name Panprezident1. Two Russian mobile numbers attached to the graph’s JUST Team entity appear in leaked customer records of the Russian delivery company CDEK, one under the full name Pavel Alekseyevich Kulizhnikov. Those records are unverified, the affidavit redacts his phone number, and nothing in the graph ties the numbers to his companies. The only email address in the graph that carries his surname comes from a separate collection of leaked logins and lists a different middle name, so it is not attributed to him here. No email in the graph is tied to his companies.

The Records

• Complaint and affidavit (Doc. 1; CourtListener)
• Hearing minutes (Doc. 4; CourtListener)
• Commitment order (Doc. 6; CourtListener)
• Florida docket
• Florida records: US MTEX GROUP, MyTeaSupply, Royal Commerce Empire
• TheAlienEx channel and manager account

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Pavel Alekseyevich Kulizhnikov?

He is the lead defendant in a federal criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Virginia (case 1:26-MJ-407) and unsealed on October 21, 2026, in the Southern District of Florida (case 0:26-mj-06603-PAB). A DEA affidavit describes him as a Miami-area cryptocurrency reseller and broker affiliated with the “JUST Team” of a Russian money laundering organization. As of October 23, 2026, he has not been convicted.

What is he charged with?

The complaint charges him and a redacted co-defendant with money laundering conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h), with concealment and sting objects. A second redacted defendant is charged with conspiracy to conduct an unlicensed money transmitting business under 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 1960.

What is TheAlienEx?

TheAlienEx is a public Telegram channel, t.me/TheAlienEx, that advertises USDT-to-dollar exchange, ruble-to-dollar cash exchange in Moscow and Miami, and invoice payments. It directs customers to the manager account @TheAlienEx_manager. The DEA affidavit says @TheAlienEx_manager is one of Kulizhnikov’s Telegram usernames. The affidavit does not name the channel itself.

Where does the $50 million-a-day figure come from?

It is a confidential source’s estimate. According to the affidavit, a source identified as CS7 estimated that the JUST Team launders approximately $50 million per day. The figure has not been tested in court.

Colin Aamot is an investigative journalist and OSINT domain expert specializing in FOIA and public records. A technologist, U.S. Army veteran, and former Capitol Hill staffer, he has held director roles across the private and public sectors.Full bio