Officials from Poland’s CBŚP have disclosed the charges against Dmitry Vasiliev, the former head of the cryptocurrency exchange WEX, who was detained in October.
“Łowcy cieni” @CBSPolicji zatrzymali kolejne 3⃣ osoby poszukiwane przez służby z ??, ?? i ??‼️
Od początku roku „łowcy cieni” ustalili miejsce przebywania 3⃣0⃣ osób poszukiwanych przez służby z krajów z całego świata‼️⤵️https://t.co/MRGgCWni6O pic.twitter.com/JwVRU6wz0I
— Centralne Biuro Śledcze Policji (@CBSPolicji) December 6, 2024
According to the agency, the Russian national was detained at the request of the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office as part of an extradition request from the US Department of Justice.
Vasiliev is suspected of numerous frauds, money transfers, and money laundering related to his management of the WEX exchange. In the United States, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
In the spring of 2019, Vasiliev was declared a suspect in fraud in Kazakhstan and was placed on an interstate wanted list. In July of that year, he was arrested in Italy, where he spent several weeks in prison.
In September 2021, the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the detention and arrest of the former WEX head. In early December, he was released and subsequently traveled to Russia. At that time, the court did not make a final decision regarding extradition to Kazakhstan.
In May of the same year, Vasiliev was detained at Zagreb airport while attempting to enter Croatia.
His latest arrest in Warsaw in October 2024 was reported by Exved CEO Sergey Mendeleev. He stated that law enforcement “cracked and seized” Vasiliev’s phone.
In July 2018, due to “technical work,” the WEX exchange ceased full withdrawal of funds. At the same time, according to Dmitry Vasiliev, he signed an agreement to transfer ownership rights of WEX to former “DNR” militant Dmitry “Sailor” Khavchenko.
In August of the same year, the exchange’s bankruptcy and suspension of operations were announced. According to an initiative group of the exchange’s clients, the damage exceeded $400 million. Vasiliev is personally accused of withdrawing $200 million.
In March 2022, the “red admin” of BTC-e (WEX), Alexey Bilyuchenko, was detained in Russia, suspected of embezzling the bitcoin exchange’s assets.
The managing company World Exchange Services won a court case to recover 3.1 billion rubles of WEX assets. In this case, the “red admin” was sentenced in September 2023 to 3.5 years in prison and fined 500,000 rubles.