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Polish police take Crypto Capital president into custody

TL;DR

Head of payment processor Crypto Capital, a firm that has been notoriously linked with the Bitfinex exchange scandal, has been arrested by the Polish Police on the charges of money laundering and drug running, according to the local news media.

The dark and the shady past of Crypto Capital has been in the news for quite some time now. And while the troubled cryptocurrency exchanges like Bitfinex and QuadrigaCX and cryptocurrency issuer Tether continue to remain the primary targets of the New York Attorney General, the once-famous banking services facilitator, Crypto Capital, has now become the focal point of all investigations.

Crypto Capital and its alleged ties with distressed exchanges

It all began with the now-defunct QuadrigaCX exchange that chose to entrust its funds to the ill-famed company and faced withdrawal issues last year, publicly blaming Crypto Capital for its loss of funds. Lower-profile exchange platforms, like Coinapult, also faced QuadrigaCX-like withdrawal issues last year. Today, as the riveting story of the exchange platform Bitfinex continues to unfold, Crypto Capital’s alleged role becomes more transparent.

According to the Polish newspaper, Ivan Manuel Molina Lee, Crypto Capital President, was arrested in Greece and flown back to the home country on Thursday. Lee has been charged for being actively involved in running an international drug cartel and an extensive money laundering operation that embezzled funds between Europe and Latin America.

The National Public Prosecutor’s Office in Poland stated that around three hundred and fifty million dollars ($350 million) were sourced from these illicit activities and transferred from the organization’s account to various bank accounts in Poland, from the period December 2016 to February 2018.

Termed as the most prominent security attack in the history of the Polish prosecutor’s office, the arrest was a collaborative effort from many international security forces, including Interpol, Europol and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in the United States, following an arrest warrant issued in Europe in March this year.

Meanwhile, the arrest news comes amid Bitfinex’s subpoena application to recover its lost eight hundred and eighty million dollars ($880 million) funds, which the scandalous company claims, are frozen by the Polish authorities.

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Manasee Joshi

An avid reader and an enthusiastic writer, Manasee recently chose to dedicate her time doing freelance writing. A degree in English literature and experiences in Administration, HR, finance, literature, creativity and innovation tucked under her belt, she crafts engaging and compelling content for crypto and blockchain audience.

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