The former owner of the WEX cryptocurrency exchange, Dmitry Vasilyev, was arrested in Warsaw. This was reported by Exved CEO Sergey Mendelyev on his Telegram channel.

“Dima was arrested under an Interpol warrant in Warsaw, accused by the US of helping to evade anti-Russian sanctions. The extradition process has begun,” he wrote.

Mendelyev noted that local lawyers are working with Vasilyev, while his projects remain under the control of trusted partners.

“His phone was hacked and seized (he was trying to prove that Kazakhstan had no claims against him). This is all the information at the moment,” added Mendelyev.

WEX, an exchange built on the foundation of BTC-e, ceased full withdrawals in July 2018. It was later revealed that ownership rights of WEX were transferred to Dmitry “Moryachok” Khavchenko, linked to the self-declared DPR. The exchange went bankrupt in August of the same year, resulting in losses exceeding $400 million for users.

Vasilyev is personally accused of withdrawing $200 million from the platform. In 2019, he was declared a suspect in Kazakhstan and placed on the wanted list. He was arrested in Italy, but soon released. In 2021, the Warsaw Prosecutor’s Office confirmed his arrest, but Vasilyev was released again shortly thereafter.

After the bankruptcy of WEX, unknown individuals continued to withdraw funds from exchange wallets, including a 100 ETH transaction to Binance.

Recall that in March 2022, Russian authorities detained Aleksey Bilyuchenko, linked to BTC-e, on charges of embezzling the exchange’s assets.