Owner of Belarus’s largest crypto exchange placed on an international wanted list

The Main Investigation Department of Belarus has completed the criminal case against three suspects for aiding the owner of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitok.me (formerly Bitok.by), Vladislav Kuchinsky, and his associates, who carried out operations through the exchange totaling more than $29 million. The damage caused by tax evasion amounted to more than 9 million Belarusian rubles, the SC said.

The service was dubbed ‘the largest crypto exchange in Belarus’ by the agency.

«During the crime, the accused used anonymity tools on the network, registered to shell entities, SIM cards, and accounts on foreign crypto platforms. This allowed them for a long time not to attract the attention of law enforcement and stay in the shadows,» the SC said.

As a result of the investigation, authorities stated that the exchange was used ‘to commit fraudulent actions and to finance extremist activity’.

The SC stressed that the service was not a resident of the Belarus Hi-Tech Park and was not registered in the prescribed manner.

During searches, more than $280,000 was seized, along with computers and documents linking the accused to the crime.

Additionally, authorities questioned the service’s ‘largest clients’, who conducted operations through it for more than $50,000. Law enforcement also gained access to the exchange’s database and information on two thousand users:

«The activities of these clients remain under investigation by the criminal prosecution authorities».

The investigation established banking accounts controlled by the defendants in Belarus and Georgia. A freeze was placed on them.

After identifying the alleged accomplices of Kuchinsky and their detention, Bitok.me continued to operate. The owner of the exchange sent clients letters advising them to ignore calls from law enforcement and ‘took steps to withdraw funds from the accounts under their control’, the SC claims.

Kuchinsky was placed on an international wanted list. He is accused of evading taxes on a particularly large scale.

In April, the Belarusian Ministry of Justice established a procedure for seizing digital currencies in the framework of enforcement proceedings.

Head of the SC Dmitry Gora stated in May that the agency is already actively seizing cryptocurrencies.

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