Crypto Capital Exec Indicted on Three Criminal Counts in NY Court

Published at: Oct. 27, 2019

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York has indicted Crypto Capital executive Oz Yosef on three criminal counts.

An Oct. 23 court filing obtained by Cointelegraph confirmed that Oz Yosef has been indicted by U.S. authorities on conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Crypto Capital allegedly mislead Bitfinex

The filing would appear to confirm allegations from cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, which in a recent statement tried to establish itself as a victim of fraud regarding Crypto Capital — its former payments processor.

On April 25, the New York Attorney General’s office alleged that Bitfinex lost $850 million and subsequently used funds from Tether— its affiliated stablecoin operator — to cover the shortfall. Bitfinex claimed that Crypto Capital spread the firm’s funds across multiple bank accounts in several countries, making it difficult to access. 

Bitfinex explained that the Panama-based payments processor processed funds for and on behalf of Bitfinex for years and that Bitfinex was relying upon its representations, including those by executive Oz Yosef, which eventually turned out to be misleading. The exchange claimed:

“Among those misrepresentations, Crypto Capital regularly referred to its integrity, banking expertise, robust compliance programme and financial licences. This was designed to assure us that Crypto Capital was capable of handling Bitfinex's transactions.”

Bitfinex previously claimed  that any allegation that Crypto Capital laundered illicit funds upon request of Bitfinex or its customers is “categorically false.” 

President of Crypto Capital arrested in Poland

Ivan Manuel Molina Lee, the president of Crypto Capital, was arrested by Polish authorities on Oct. 24 on suspicion of money laundering and being involved in an international drug cartel. Lee was detained on a European Arrest Warrant issued by the prosecutor's office in Wrocław. His arrest is reportedly connected to $350 million that was previously seized by the Polish Ministry of Justice.

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