Dmitry Vasiliev Arrested In Poland, Most Wanted Figure In Money Laundering And Crypto Cases

Dmitry Vasiliev, the most wanted figure for money laundering and crypto fraud activities. (photo: coinscreed)

JAKARTA – BBC Russia has reported that Dmitry Vasiliev, the former head of Russian cryptocurrency exchange Wex, has been arrested in Warsaw, Poland.

Wex, previously known as BTC-e, was a notorious “dark” exchange in the early days of the cryptocurrency industry. They are alleged to have laundered funds for various high-profile crypto hacks, including the Mt. The notorious Gox.

Although Vasiliev is presumed innocent by Polish jurisdiction, other countries such as Kazakhstan have open cases of fraud against the elusive figure who is reportedly involved in discussions surrounding the possibility of extradition.

Vasiliev was actually detained on August 11 by Polish authorities, but the news was only revealed by the Polish newspaper, Wyborcza, on September 17.

Vasiliev allegedly facilitated trading for Chinese investors as an employee of BTC-e until its closing in the summer of 2017. Alexander Vinnik, the alleged head of BTC-e, was charged with laundering more than US$4 billion in Bitcoin over six years. He was later arrested in Greece and the subject of an investigation by US authorities.

A few months after Vinnik's arrest, Vasiliev emerged as a director of the rebranded exchange, Wex, which later cemented his place on the list of Top-10 exchanges, with a daily trading turnover of US$80 million, at the end of the calendar year.

But more than a year later, Binance blacklisted Wex for alleged money-laundering practices, a decision that would eventually result in the exchange's demise.

In 2019, Vasiliev was arrested by Italian authorities but was soon released after it was revealed that there had been errors in his extradition request.

Recently, the Bank of Russia began collaborating with local banks to suspend payments of its citizens to crypto exchanges, citing protection of customers from “emotional” purchases as a reason for forced intervention.