Zondacrypto: former associate indicted in Poland for $2.1 million embezzlement

He who sows the wind reaps the storm. Roman Ż., former business associate of the platform's missing founder, has just been indicted in Poland. He joins a growing list in an investigation where Le Journal du Coin already reported the arrest of the president of the Polish Olympic Committee at the end of August.

A fifth name on the list of those charged

According to the Polish National Prosecutor's Office, arrested on September 5, Roman Ż. faces two charges:

participation in an organized criminal group,

misappropriation of 7.8 million zlotys, approximately $2.1 million, belonging to users of the exchange.

Prosecutors accuse him of modifying, deleting and adding computer data without authorization to profit financially. The man, described as a former partner of Sylwester Suszek when the platform was still called BitBay, has pleaded not guilty.

He is not alone in the dock. Radosław P., the president of the Polish Olympic Committee, was indicted at the end of August. Three other suspects, Anna P., Jaromira W. and Rafał Z., followed in early September. Roman Ż. therefore brings the counter to five, and there is no indication that the prosecution is finished. The prosecutor requested his pre-trial detention, citing the quantum of the sentence incurred (up to ten years in prison), the risk of obstructing the investigation and the risk of flight.

The expanded investigation now covers at least 350 million zlotys, about $94 million, in estimated losses, with more than 3,600 victim reports filed to date. A figure that the authorities themselves present as provisional, likely to increase as other complaints arise. Meanwhile, Sylwester Suszek, the founder of Zondacrypto missing since March 2022, remains untraceable, and the 4,500 BTC wallet he allegedly controls alone continues to elude anyone.