Polish police detained a Russian citizen associated with the collapsed WEX exchange on charges of fraud and money laundering. US authorities have requested his extradition in connection with cryptocurrency-related crimes and are currently waiting for the extradition process to be completed.
“Crypto King” from WEX detained in Poland
Local media on Friday reported that Polish authorities arrested a 37-year-old Russian citizen in Warsaw. In accordance with Polish law, the suspect was referred to as “Dmitry V” in media reports. but he was apparently referring to the former CEO of the WEX cryptocurrency exchange, Belarusian-born Dmitry Vasiliev.
Wasiliew was detained by “Shadow Hunters”, an elite unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation of the Police (CBŚP), in an apartment in Wola – said Krzysztof Wrześniowski, CBŚP spokesman.
Wrześniowski noted that the arrest was based on the decision of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, which acted on the basis of an extradition request submitted by the US Department of Justice. “Dmitry V. is suspected of numerous frauds, money transfers and money laundering in connection with running one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world,” he added.
It is worth adding that Wasiliev was arrested in Poland in August 2021. The fugitive was detained at Warsaw Chopin Airport at the request of Kazakhstan, seeking his extradition for crimes related to cryptocurrencies. However, he was released after several weeks of detention and returned to Russia.
Polish authorities expressed concern that Vasiliev had re-entered the country and remained undetected for so long, suggesting he was likely living quietly to avoid the law.
Now the wanted “crypto king” faces a modern extradition request from the US to face prosecution for his alleged crimes. If extradition is successful, Wasiliew faces up to 20 years in prison, Wrześniowski said.
The man is in custody and is waiting for the entire procedure to be completed in connection with his extradition to the USA.
$450 Million WEX Collapse
As reported by several media outlets, Vasiliev allegedly ran World Exchange Services (WEX) until its collapse in 2018. The exchange was created to “fill the gap” left by the extinct cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, which was shut down following an FBI investigation into international money laundering and hiding stolen funds from Mt.Gox.
How reported by the BBC in 2019, despite Vasiliev being a figurehead, WEX was run “from the shadows” by Alexei Bilyuchenko. Bilyuchenko was a partner of Alexander Vinnik in the now defunct BTC-e exchange.
After the collapse of BTC-e, he founded WEX with the lend a hand of millionaire Konstantin Malofeev. The exchange collapsed the following year when $450 million in client funds disappeared. According to the BBC, Bilyuchenko stated that in the spring of 2018 he lost control of the stock exchange as a result of being “deceived” by counterfeit security service agents.
The suspect claimed that during the meeting with Malofeev and “agents” he was “offered” to send funds to a wallet controlled by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). He alleged that Malofeev’s accomplices had deceived him.
However, the Moscow millionaire, who has “strong connections” with the Kremlin, denies these allegations. Bilyuchenko initially evaded U.S. detention in connection with the BTC-e case, but was reportedly arrested by Russian authorities in connection with the collapse of WEX in 2022. In 2023, he was accused by US authorities for his role in the BTC-e exchange and the Mt.Gox hack.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $97,831 in the one-week chart. Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com
