Oz Yosef charged in Bitfinex Case according to a report by CoinDesk. The case has made the headlines where Bitfinex claimed to be conned by Crypto Capital, a payment processor.
Crypto Capital principal Oz Yosef was indicted on three criminal counts by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York Wednesday, Oct. 23, confirming statements made by Bitfinex’s general counsel Stuart Hoegner Friday.
The crypto exchange and sister company of Tether claimed Friday that it was the “victim of a fraud” at the hands of Crypto Capital, a payment processor that allegedly lost $880 million of Bitfinex’s money. Crypto Capital’s president, Ivan Manuel Molina Lee, was arrested Thursday by Polish police on charges of money laundering.
Authorities had written that Molina Lee’s crimes included “laundering dirty money for Columbian drug cartels using a cryptocurrency exchange.”
In a statement released Friday, Bitfinex said it will “make its position clear” to U.S. and Polish authorities and will continue to pursue the funds that Crypto Capital lost. According to the statement, Crypto Capital had misrepresented its “integrity, banking expertise, robust compliance programme and financial licences” to Bitfinex.
Molina Lee is wanted in Poland for laundering up to 1.5 billion zloty (about $390 million) “from illegal sources,” according to reports in Polish newspaper W Polityce. Bitfinex denied rumors that it had played any part in the payment processor’s money laundering.
“We cannot speak about Crypto Capital’s other clients, but any suggestion that Crypto Capital laundered drug proceeds or any other illicit funds at the behest of Bitfinex or its customers is categorically false,” wrote Bitfinex general counsel Stuart Hoegner. Oz Yosef charged in Bitfinex Case closes the issue with regard to bitfinex.
Statement from Bitfinex
Several months ago, Ivan Manuel Molina Lee, a principal of Crypto Capital, was detained by authorities in Greece. This week he was extradited to Poland to answer charges there. Also, Oz Yosef (also known as Oz Joseph), another principal of Crypto Capital, has been indicted on three criminal counts by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. As has already been mentioned publicly in court filings, Crypto Capital processed certain funds for and on behalf of Bitfinex for several years. During that period, Bitfinex relied upon various systematic representations from Crypto Capital, including from Molina and Yosef, that proved to be false. 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 is the victim of a fraud and is making its position clear to the relevant authorities, including those in Poland and the United States. We cannot speak about Crypto Capital’s other clients, but any suggestion that Crypto Capital laundered drug proceeds or any other illicit funds at the behest of Bitfinex or its customers is categorically false. This week’s developments do nothing to affect or otherwise deter Bitfinex’s claims to funds in Poland or anywhere else. We will continue to work to recover all funds for and on behalf of our stakeholders.
