Odessa Court Keeps Bitsonar Pyramid Founder in Custody

On September 30, the Odessa Regional Court of Appeal ordered Alexander Tovstenko, founder of the Bitsonar pyramid, to be remanded in custody, suspected of organizing the murder-for-hire of a former colleague.

According to local media, Tovstenko refused to participate in the hearing, and his interests were represented by lawyers.

According to investigators, Alexander Tovstenko ordered the murder of former Bitsonar technical employee Yaroslav Shatdchenko (also known as Jan Novak).

The suspect faces life imprisonment.

As previously reported, it was Yaroslav Shatdchenko who exposed that Bitsonar, which positioned itself as an investment fund for algorithmic cryptocurrency trading, was a Ponzi scheme. He named the true pyramid organizer—a former Ukrainian official, Alexander Tovstenko.

In an interview with ForkLog, Shatdchenko claimed that Tovstenko has ties within the security services.

On August 26 in Kyiv, Yaroslav Shatdchenko was kidnapped by unknown assailants. As later it emerged, this was carried out by SBU officers with the aim of staging his murder. The client was detained during the transfer of the second part of the reward to the killer, amounting to $5000.

In September, Shatdchenko stated violations by Alexander Tovstenko to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

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