On February 2, Spanish law enforcement officers detained the CEO, head of sales and marketing director of the Bitzlato crypto exchange. In total, through the joint efforts of the police of France, Portugal, Cyprus and the United States, six citizens of Russia and Ukraine, who led the exchange of cryptocurrencies, were arrested.
According to the Spanish police, the anonymity of the exchange allowed it to become a platform for criminal organizations that launder money using cryptocurrencies. The authorities confiscated 18 million euros ($19.8 million) in digital assets, fiat money and property (cars, smartphones, etc.) and blocked more than 100 exchange accounts.
Two days earlier, Bitzlato co-founder Anton Shkurenko said that 50% of the bitcoins stored in the wallets of the crypto exchange could be withdrawn as soon as the exchange restarted. Previously, investigators seized 35% of user funds stored in Bitzlato. Shkurenko also said that the new crypto exchange will be based in Russia – “out of reach of law enforcement agencies.”
Message on the main page of the Bitzlato website
On January 18, the main shareholder and co-founder of Bitzlato, Russian Anatoly Legkodymov, was detained in Miami. The US Department of Justice stated that the crypto exchange did not comply with Know Your Customer and anti-money laundering regulations. On the same day, Bitzlato websites were blocked, and some of the exchange funds were seized.
The exchange, according to prosecutors, exchanged more than $700 million in cryptocurrencies with Hydra Market, an “illegal online marketplace for drugs, stolen financial information, false documents, and money laundering services,” which U.S. and German law enforcement officials shut down in April 2022.
Source: Cointelegraph
