Former WEX Executive to Face US Justice
Polish authorities have arrested Dmitry V., ex-CEO of Russia-based crypto exchange WEX in Warsaw based on an extradition request from the U.S. Department of Justice. Local authorities did not disclose Dmitry V’s full name due to privacy laws. He is accused of fraud and money laundering during his position in now-defunct WEX, online which emerged as the successor of BTC-e.
According to the Polish police, the suspect is still in custody and facing extradition proceedings. If extradited to the US, Dmitry V. would face up to 20 years as the maximum sentence.
The Fall of WEX and Missing Funds
WEX once handled more than $9 billion in cryptocurrency transactions for over a million users around the world before it collapsed in 2018 amid allegations of mismanagement and financial crimes. Reports say that nearly $450 million remains unaccounted for, raising suspicions of large-scale fraud.
WEX had come to be known for not having the identity verification processes in place that would prevent illicit transactions and the laundering of funds connected with hacks such as that of Mt. Gox.
A History of Arrests Across Europe
This is not the first time that Dmitry V. faced legal problems. In August 2021, Polish authorities detained him for a short time but had to release him after 40 days because of a court decision. In 2019, Italy arrested him, but procedural errors in the extradition request led to his release.
In the summer of 2022, Interpol arrested Dmitry V. at Zagreb Airport in Croatia in response to an extradition request from Kazakhstan. He has avoided protracted detention in any of these cases so far.
Growing International Efforts Against Crypto Crime
The arrest of Dmitry V. highlights increasing global efforts to combat cryptocurrency-related crime. In May 2023, Alexander Vinnik, another former crypto exchange executive, pleaded guilty in the US to money laundering charges. Vinnik, who oversaw BTC-e before WEX, was arrested in Greece in 2017 and later extradited to the US.
As regulators and law enforcement intensify their scrutiny of crypto platforms, cases like WEX and BTC-e underline the
