Nils Silinevics
Nils leads Valken's crypto asset recovery and exchange-unlock practice. He spent nearly a decade inside a European Financial Intelligence Unit investigating cross-border money laundering, sanctions evasion, and virtual-asset cases — coordinating with Egmont Group, Moneyval, and Eurojust. As a CAMS-certified specialist, he now uses that insider knowledge to help clients whose accounts are frozen by exchanges and whose crypto is stolen by scammers.
Career timeline
Professional experiencePartner · AML & Crypto Compliance — Valken
Leads the crypto asset recovery practice: exchange account unlocks, source-of-funds documentation, USDT/USDC blacklist removal, sanctions false-positive resolution, and blockchain tracing for stolen-fund recovery. Personally handled 1,500+ cases with a 90%+ success rate across 21+ platforms including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, OKX, Tether, and Circle.
Senior AML/CFT Investigator — European Financial Intelligence Unit
Led cross-border money laundering and sanctions evasion investigations involving virtual assets (VA/VASP). Coordinated with Egmont Group member FIUs, Moneyval assessors, and Eurojust. Reviewed suspicious transaction reports (STRs/SARs), drafted financial intelligence disseminations to prosecutorial authorities, and contributed to national AML/CFT risk assessments. Gained deep familiarity with how compliance decisions are made internally — knowledge now used to advocate for clients from the other side.
Legal Advisor — Ministry of Finance (Latvia)
Advised on financial regulation, AML/CFT legislative implementation, and EU directives (AMLD4/AMLD5). Participated in interagency working groups on virtual asset regulation and VASP licensing frameworks. Contributed to national policy on sanctions implementation and cross-border asset freezing.
Law Clerk — Riga Arbitration Court
Supported arbitration proceedings in commercial and financial disputes. Drafted procedural memoranda and assisted arbitrators in cross-border cases involving asset tracing and enforcement of arbitral awards.
Education & certifications
Academic backgroundLL.M. — Banking, Corporate, Finance and Securities Law
Riga Graduate School of Law
BLaw — International Law
University of Latvia
CAMS — Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist
ACAMS certification
Areas of focus
What they work onAML Freeze Resolution
Unfreezing exchange accounts blocked by automated AML monitoring systems.
Source of Funds Documentation
Preparing legally compliant SoF packages that satisfy exchange compliance teams.
USDT / USDC Blacklist Removal
Direct communication with Tether Limited and Circle compliance to unfreeze on-chain assets.
OFAC / EU Sanctions False Positives
Proving non-affiliation with sanctioned individuals or entities to unfreeze accounts.
Blockchain Tracing
Tracking stolen crypto through chains, mixers, and bridges to identify receiving exchanges.
VASP / MiCA Compliance
Advising on Virtual Asset Service Provider regulatory frameworks under EU MiCA regulation.
Cross-Border ML Investigations
Coordinating multi-jurisdictional investigations involving Egmont Group and Eurojust.
Complex Cases
Inheritance, ownership disputes, unprovable source of funds, and sanctioned nationality cases.