Polish prosecutors charge former officer as Zondacrypto probe searches fuel depot

Polish prosecutors charged Artur K. on two counts in the Zondacrypto case. Officers detained Artur K. on Tuesday on orders from the National Prosecutor's Office organized crime department. The first count alleges membership in an organized criminal group. The second count includes causing property damage on a great scale to BitBay, BB Trade Estonia and a third entity. It also includes aiding the misappropriation of entrusted property, aiding computer fraud and money laundering. Polish Radio reported that Artur K. is a former police officer, citing the state news agency PAP. A search of Artur K.'s home found documents about the exchange's operations. Prosecutors questioned him as a suspect. Prosecutors will decide whether to seek his pre-trial detention. Anna Adamiak, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor-general, said the office did not know whether Artur K. had responded to the charges. Katowice police are searching the fuel depot where Zondacrypto founder Sylwester Suszek was last seen before he vanished in March 2022. Prosecutors are working with expert witnesses and specialized forensic equipment. The case file treats Suszek's case as unlawful deprivation of liberty rather than a disappearance. An earlier suspect is accused of removing a hard drive from a filling station's CCTV recorder. Suszek founded the exchange in Katowice in 2014 as BitBay. The exchange moved its registration to Estonia in 2020 under BB Trade Estonia. It later took the Zondacrypto name and claimed 1.3 million clients. It froze withdrawals and went dark in April. Estonia's financial intelligence unit revoked the operator's license on June 29. At least five others have been charged since August. They include Radosław P., the former head of the Polish Olympic Committee. Each person who has responded publicly has denied the charges. None of the allegations has been tested in court.