The Investigative Department of the Russian Interior Ministry refused to block funds totaling 10,016 ETH ($45.9 million at the time of writing) that were withdrawn from the platform’s wallet by unknown parties in September. The information, citing an official document reported by Sergey Mendeleev, CEO of Indefibank.
Earlier the victims provided law enforcement with a detailed scheme of how the funds moved from the WEX wallet to external platforms, and data from an analytics tool indicating that the coins had been stolen.
They also said that in September they managed to contact representatives of the Binance exchange, to which a portion of the stolen funds amounting to 97.8 ETH was sent, and the platform froze these assets for seven business days.
Under Binance’s current rules, after presenting “substantial evidence” of the theft of user funds, the security service may temporarily freeze assets. Subsequently, the user must contact law enforcement and hand the police report to the exchange’s representatives.
“From this moment, Binance will work directly with law enforcement authorities to regulate the stolen funds and resolve your case,” the exchange’s rules state.
Following Binance’s instructions, the affected WEX clients asked the Russian Interior Ministry to seize the stolen funds. However, in a response dated 25 October, representatives of the ministry said that the stated circumstances require further investigation:
“At this stage of the preliminary investigation, deciding to place a restraint on property in a criminal case, based on the information provided, would be premature,” the officials said.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs officials have instructed regional authorities to study the information provided by the applicants.
“Law enforcement agencies are directly aiding the scammers who stole users’ funds, even though they had been told through whom this ether changed hands and other necessary information,” summarized Sergey Mendeleev.
Earlier on 11 August, police in Warsaw detained and arrested the former owner of WEX, Dmitry Vasilyev, at Kazakhstan’s request, where he is suspected of fraud. This information was later confirmed by the prosecutor’s office.
Spusta a month, on 15 September, an unknown person withdrew 100 ETH ($345,385 at the time). This was the first withdrawal from the address in the last three years.
On 20 September, all the remaining funds amounting to 9,916 ETH (just over $30 million at the time of transfer) were also moved to a new address.
Read ForkLog’s Bitcoin news in our Telegram — cryptocurrency news, prices and analytics.