Singapore has detained a Russian citizen facing cybercrime charges in the United States, Singaporean and Russian media first reported on 3 October. It is likely that the detainee is related to the network regarding sanctions circumvention.
The detention was later confirmed by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Without naming the detainee, it confirmed that on 3 October, Singapore police “detained a citizen of the Russian Federation on charges of violating U.S. laws against cybercrime for the purpose of his further extradition to the United States.”
The Russian embassy said that it had passed information about lawyers to the detainee’s entourage and kept the issue “under operational control”.
According to the Russian edition of Baza, the detainee is businessman Alex Kano (Alexander Laskin), who used to publish the Russian Singapore magazine and run a number of companies. According to Baza, his wife was prosecuted in Singapore in 2024, after which his accounts in the country’s banks were blocked. The detainee’s name has not been officially released.
In early September, Eu Reporter published an investigation about Alexei Kano, which claimed that after 2014 he officially changed his name and stopped mentioning his ties to Russia. The publication suspects him of links to the Russian state. It is alleged that he holds a Singaporean passport.
Singapore-based Alexsong Pte Ltd was placed on the US sanctions list in March 2022. The US Treasury Department indicated that the company provided financial services to help circumvent sanctions to the Russian network Sernia, likely linked to the FSB. Military products were shipped to Russia through this network. EU Reporter claims Kano was a beneficiary of the Singaporean company hit by the sanctions.
The US authorities have not yet commented on reports of his detention and possible extradition.