Former CEO of Wex Crypto Exchange Arrested in Poland: Vasiliev Under Threat of Extradition
Date: 2024-10-21 Author: Henry Casey Categories: IN WORLD
According to Sergei Mendeleyev, Vasiliev has been charged by the United States for allegedly helping to circumvent sanctions imposed on Russia. Polish lawyers have now taken up his case, claiming that the Polish authorities have no claims against him, but Kazakh law enforcement agencies have been actively searching for him through Interpol for several years.
The Wyborcza newspaper, citing its own sources, reports that the Warsaw prosecutor's office is currently considering the possibility of extraditing Vasiliev to Kazakhstan, where he may be charged.
The history of the Wex exchange is one of the most high-profile in the world of cryptocurrencies. In 2018, the platform stopped providing its users with the ability to withdraw funds and soon declared bankruptcy. According to estimates by affected clients, the total losses incurred by the exchange exceed $400 million. Vasiliev is said to have personally withdrawn about $200 million from the exchange. In turn, one of the users from Kazakhstan filed a police report, accusing him of stealing $20,000, which led to the initiation of a criminal case and the announcement of Vasiliev as an international wanted person.
There have been previous attempts to detain Vasiliev. He was first arrested in Italy in the summer of 2019 at the request of Kazakhstan. However, he was released a few weeks later due to errors found in the extradition documents. In the fall of 2021, Vasiliev was detained again, this time in Warsaw, but was released a few months later and returned to Russia, where he settled in St. Petersburg.
In the spring of 2022, he was arrested again, this time at the Zagreb airport, when he tried to enter Croatia. The basis for the arrest was an Interpol red card issued at the request of Kazakhstan. However, in this case, Vasiliev was released.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that the defendants in the Wex case have encountered justice. The co-owner of the collapsed exchange, Alexander Klimenko, was also detained, but later released on bail of 3 million dollars.
For now, Vasiliev's fate remains uncertain. The issue of his extradition to Kazakhstan is under consideration, and his lawyers continue to fight for his release, claiming that the Polish authorities have no claims against him. However, the international search and pressure from other countries complicate his situation, leaving open the question of whether he will be able to escape justice in the future.
