WEX ‘Red Admin’ case to be heard in Novosibirsk

The Zayeltsovsky District Court of Novosibirsk will review the criminal case against the system administrator of the WEX cryptocurrency exchange, Aleksei Bilyuchenko (Ivanov). Local media reported, citing the court’s press service.

Bilyuchenko is charged with embezzling the exchange’s assets.

According to investigators, in October 2018 the defendant blocked access to accounts and wallets controlled by World Exchange Services Pte. Ltd., the company behind the platform. He also cut off access of the exchange’s owners and users to funds and crypto assets worth 3.1 billion rubles.

During the preliminary investigation, Aleksei Bilyuchenko fully complied with the terms of the pre-trial cooperation agreement and reimbursed the damage, providing details of his bank accounts.

The ‘Red Admin’ was arrested in March 2022 in the Moscow region. Law enforcement authorities confiscated from him about 190 million rubles and placed him in the Matrosskaya Tishina prison.

In April 2023, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs completed the preliminary investigation into his criminal case.