Poland arrests former CEO of Russian crypto exchange WEX for extradition to US
Date: 2024-12-09 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: IN WORLD
The former CEO of crypto exchange WEX, known as Dmitry V., was arrested in central Warsaw. WEX, the successor to BTC-e, once the largest cryptocurrency platform in Russia, ceased operations in 2018. According to Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita and Reuters, the detainee was under investigation for financial fraud.
Polish police confirmed the arrest, saying that Dmitry V. is in custody pending extradition proceedings. If he is extradited to the US, he faces up to 20 years in prison on fraud and money laundering charges.
Dmitry V. was previously arrested in Poland in August 2021, but was released 40 days later by court order. He was also detained at Zagreb Airport in Croatia in 2022 at the request of Interpol from Kazakhstan, and was arrested by Italian authorities in 2019. However, the latter case ended with his release due to documentation errors.
According to Rzeczpospolita, funds worth about $450 million disappeared from the WEX exchange. The exchange was also known as a “dark” platform, where there were virtually no verifications of user identities. It was featured in investigations related to a number of high-profile crypto thefts, including the Mt. Gox hack.
During its operation, WEX processed over $9 billion in transactions, serving more than a million clients, including users from the United States.
In May this year, former WEX CEO Alexander Vinnik pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money between 2011 and 2017. Known as “Mr. Bitcoin,” he was arrested in Greece in 2017 and extradited to the United States in 2022 after spending two years in prison in France.
