Siika Mileva, a spokeswoman for Bulgaria’s top public prosecutors, has denied that the investigation against cryptocurrency lending firm Nexo was politically motivated, according to local reports. The comments came in response to allegations that the investigation was linked to political donations made by the company.
Mileva said that almost every case in which prosecutors launch an investigation that affects someone’s financial interests leads to attacks and accusations. “Attacking institutions has become a national sport,” he added.
On January 12, a group of prosecutors, investigators and foreign agents searched the company’s offices in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. The operation investigated a large-scale money laundering scheme, as well as violations of international sanctions against Russia.
In less than 48 hours after the Nexo offices were raided, four people were charged with money laundering, tax crimes, wire fraud and banking without a license. Two people were released on bail of approximately $550,000. The other two are still in Bulgaria and have been declared internationally wanted persons. It is unclear if the individuals are connected to the cryptocurrency company.
According to Mileva, the transactions carried out by Nexo totaled $94 billion over five years, forming an organized criminal group operating in several countries since the beginning of 2018. The spokeswoman indicated that the scheme is under investigation.
On Twitter, Nexo complained about the police operation and said it was preparing to file a lawsuit against the damage caused by the sudden police invasion. The company described the authorities’ approach as “guess first, ask questions later”.
According to the company, the investigators never served a search warrant for hours and never identified themselves to Nexo employees.
We always cooperate with the relevant authorities and regulators, and we hope to have some exciting news in the coming weeks. 7/
– Nexus January 12, 2023
We always cooperate with relevant authorities and regulators and look forward to receiving interesting news in the coming weeks. 7/
– Nexus
Nexo operates a lending platform where users can share and borrow cryptocurrencies. Although it has offices in Bulgaria, the company does not provide services to residents of the country due to regulatory hurdles. The company was founded in 2018 and has offices in the UK, Bulgaria and Switzerland.
In December, Nexo announced that it would cease operations in the United States due to a lack of cooperation from US authorities regarding regulatory clarity.
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