Bitzlato founder seeks release from custody

The founder of the Bitzlato crypto-exchange platform Anatoly Legkodymov has filed a petition for release from custody. According to RAPSI, citing court documents.

“Legkodymov asks to be released on any conditions at the court’s discretion so that he can live with his wife and three minor children while awaiting sentencing,” the petition states.

The document notes that the Bitzlato founder “is willing to accept any court decision that would allow him to spend time with his family.”

“The opposition to release is plainly erroneous and ridiculous, taking into account all the facts and procedural grounds of this case, Legkodymov’s conduct and biography, as well as the readily determinable range of possible consequences at this stage of the case,” the petition states.

In December, the founder of Bitzlato pleaded guilty to transferring and laundering criminal proceeds. He agreed to shut down the platform and relinquish any claims to around $23 million tied to seized assets of the exchange.

The founder was arrested in Miami on January 17. A day later, the exchange’s operations were suspended.

Subsequently, reports emerged of the arrest of former chief executive Mikhail Lunyev, marketing manager Alexander Goncharenko, the Monolithos DAO implementation contractor Pavel Lerner, and the platform’s systems administrator.

As ForkLog later stated, the lawyers said that all those arrested “were not part of the team, but were either contractors or consultants, some of whom had never participated in the company’s core activities.”

According to Europol, in total the exchange converted assets linked to criminal activity worth about €1 billion ($1.08 billion), including $700 million linked to the Hydra darknet marketplace, and $15 million for ransomware operators.