Bitfinex Exchange identified itself as a victim of fraud

The Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange issued a statement in which it described itself as a victim of fraud by the Panamanian company Crypto Capital.

Statement in response to arrest of Crypto Capital principal by Polish authorities https://t.co/dGef6vWEed

– Bitfinex (@bitfinex) October 25, 2019

As previously reported , the Polish police arrested the president of Crypto Capital, Ivan Manuel Molina Lee, who is accused of participating in a drug cartel and money laundering through the Bitfinex bitcoin exchange.

Lee is also the president of Crypto, a company registered in Michalowice (Poland). This company is almost entirely owned by a Panamanian company. Crypto served Bitfinex deposit accounts at Spółdzielczy Bank in Skierniewice, with a turnover of up to $ 1.5 billion per day. It is known that the processing services of Crypto Capital were also used by Binance, Kraken, BitMEX and the already defunct QuadrigaCX exchange.

The Bitfinex blog says that besides Molina, another defendant in the case is a certain Joseph Oz, another member of Crypto Capital, who is also involved in New York law enforcement.

“Crypto Capital has been processing some of the funds on behalf of and on behalf of Bitfinex for several years. During this time, Bitfinex relied on various information from Molina and Joseph, which turned out to be false. "

In particular, according to Bitfinex, Crypto Capital constantly tried to portray itself as an honest organization, strictly following legal norms and having considerable experience in interacting with banks. This was done to convince the exchange of the processing ability to process its operations.

“Bitfinex is a victim of fraud and is explaining its position to relevant authorities, including Poland and the United States. We cannot speak for other clients of Crypto Capital, but any assumption that the processing launders the proceeds of the sale of drugs and any other illegal funds on behalf of Bitfinex or its clients is completely untrue. ”

Finally, the exchange said it would seek a refund to stakeholders.

Recall that in the United States continues the trial against Bitfinex, accused of hiding from investors borrowing funds from Tether. At the same time, the exchange does not leave attempts to gain access to $ 880 million frozen in Crypto Capital .

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