New Zealand Police Freeze $140 Million in Bank Accounts Linked to Alexander Vinnik and the Stock ExchangeBTC-e.
According to the New Zealand Herald, moneycontrolled by Canton Business Corporation, a New Zealand-registered company, and were frozen as part of a global investigation that arrested Alexander Vinnik, allegedly involved in laundering $ 4 billion through bitcoin.
Police Commissioner Andrew Costerstated that Vinnik had previously managed the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange. He claims that BTC-e, which operated from the United States, did not implement anti-money laundering measures. This led to the laundering of proceeds of crime.
Vinnik was arrested on charges of money laundering in Greece in 2017 and this year was extradited to France, where he remains in custody.
"The New Zealand Police have been working closely with the IRS to investigate this serious crime," Koster said."These funds likely represent the proceeds of money laundering by cybercriminals and organized crime."
The publication states that, according toThe U.S. Prosecutor’s declassified indictment, BTC-e operations were also based in Seychelles, and web domains were registered to shell companies, including Singapore, the British Virgin Islands, and New Zealand.
According to the state agency forregistering a business in New Zealand, Vinnik registered WME Capital Management Ltd in North Shore in 2008. However, in 2012, the company was excluded from the state registry, as the agency decided that it had ceased operations.
The name WME also appears in the indictmentan act by the US Attorney's Office, as Vinnik allegedly managed a WME account on BTC-e. The exchange's web domains have been registered by several New Zealand companies that work with the police.
The further fate of the frozen $ 140 million will bebe decided in court. The New Zealand police investigation will rely on evidence gathered by the United States, including allegations that Winnick was involved in laundering funds obtained after hacking the MtGox exchange.
It was previously reported that more than 300,000 stolenBTC ended up on BTC-e. Moreover, some of them were immediately placed in the internal storage of the exchange, and not in users' wallets, which may indicate a direct connection between Vinnik and BTC-e. Coins stolen from MtGox, Bitcoinica, Bitfloor and other exchanges passed through Vinnik.
Bonfire said that given the global naturemoney laundering operations, there is always a risk of unintentional involvement of New Zealand companies. Frozen $ 140 million was the largest amount ever arrested by New Zealand law enforcement.
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