Former WEX CEO Arrested in Poland, Faces Extradition to U.S.

Key Takeaways

• Dmitry V. is accused of involvement in fraud and money laundering activities linked to the operation of WEX
• In 2021, he was detained at a Polish airport at the request of Kazakhstan

Polish authorities have detained Dmitry V., the former CEO of the crypto exchange WEX, following an extradition request from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). Dmitry V. is accused of involvement in fraud and money laundering activities tied to the operation of WEX, a Russia-based crypto platform that ceased operations in 2018.

The arrest which took place in Warsaw on December 9, 2024, is viewed as a key step toward his extradition to the U.S., where he is expected to face charges stemming from alleged criminal activities during his tenure at WEX.

WEX, which was founded as the successor to BTC-e, inherited many of its predecessor’s controversies. As per reports, When WEX was operational, it has processed more than $9 billion in transactions from over a million users, including many in the US. BTC-e had been a prominent crypto exchange but became the focus of a U.S. investigation in 2017 following allegations of facilitating large-scale money laundering. The DOJ charged BTC-e and its operators with laundering billions of dollars, including funds linked to the Mt. Gox hack and other cybercrimes.

Despite attempts to distance itself from BTC-e’s legacy, WEX faced similar scrutiny and allegations. After its collapse in 2018, investigations into its operations intensified, with a particular focus on the exchange’s financial practices and alleged involvement in laundering illicit funds.

The DOJ’s ongoing probe into Dmitry V. centers on his leadership of WEX and his alleged role in overseeing activities that enabled the laundering of significant sums of money. Polish authorities detained Dmitry V. under a warrant issued by the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office, advancing the extradition process.

This is not the first time Dmitry V. has faced international attention. In 2021, he was detained at a Polish airport at the request of Kazakhstan but was released shortly afterward and returned to Russia. 

The recent development comes amid multiple countries pursuing cases involving fraudulent transactions in the digital asset sector. In West Bengal in India, a man was arrested for allegedly draining a staggering $235 million from the Indian exchange WazirX. Meanwhile, in Malaysia, police, with assistance from Binance’s Financial Intelligence Unit, traced and recovered $1.6 million in crypto ransom paid in a kidnapping case.