Reports of the detention of Dmitry Vasiliev, ex-head of the bankrupt cryptocurrency alternate Wex, have been confirmed by authorities in Poland. The former government of the platform, allegedly concerned within the theft of funds value tens of millions of {dollars}, faces attainable extradition to Kazakhstan.
Prosecutor’s Office Confirms Vasiliev Is in Custody in Poland
Dmitry Vasiliev, who as soon as managed the biggest Russian crypto alternate, was apprehended on the Warsaw airport in early August however the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza broke the news final week, quoting undisclosed sources. A consultant of the regional Prosecutor’s Office within the capital metropolis has now confirmed the arrest to Russia’s RIA Novosti information company.
The 34-year-old Russian citizen headed the now-defunct Wex, a successor of the notorious BTC-e alternate, earlier than it was sold to a Ukrainian businessman-turned separatist fighter, Dmitry Havchenko, in late 2018. The digital asset buying and selling platform halted withdrawals earlier that 12 months and finally went bankrupt.
While Vasiliev formally owned Wex’s Singapore-based operator, the BBC Russian Service has beforehand revealed that Wex belonged to Aleksey Bilyuchenko, a associate of BTC-e alleged administrator Alexander Vinnik. The Russian IT specialist, accused of laundering as much as $9 billion by way of BTC-e, was sentenced this previous December to 5 years in jail by France which rejected Vinnik’s extradition to Russia.
Polish police detained the previous Wex CEO with assist from Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization. The Warsaw Prosecutor’s Office official famous {that a} “request for the extradition of Dmitry V. was despatched by Kazakhstan.” Vasiliev is needed within the Central Asian nation since 2019 on accusations of fraud associated to the alternate. Poland is but to determine whether or not at hand him over.
The crypto entrepreneur has been in custody since Aug. 11, when Polish authorities positioned him below momentary arrest for an preliminary interval of 40 days. Dmitry Vasiliev is suspected of involvement within the disappearance of $450 million value of belongings belonging to residents of EU member states and different international locations world wide.
On Monday, somebody ordered the switch of 9,916 ETH, value over $30 million, from a pockets belonging to Wex, crypto information outlet Forklog reported. The transaction, nonetheless pending affirmation on the time of writing, has been initiated after 100 ETH have been withdrawn from the pockets on Sept. 15. The publication famous that was the primary motion of funds within the pockets previously three years.
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