A Polish court has approved pretrial detention for a fifth suspect in the investigation into crypto exchange Zondacrypto, according to Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek.
Roman Ż. was charged with membership in an organized criminal group and misappropriating clients' funds through computer fraud. Prosecutors allege the group extracted at least 7.8 million złoty (approximately $2 million) from exchange users by making unauthorized changes to exchange data and interfering with its processing and transmission systems. He faces up to 10 years in prison and has denied the charges.
Police detained the suspect in Silesia on Saturday and seized exchange documents.
Background on Zondacrypto
Zondacrypto launched in Katowice in 2014 under the name BitBay, founded by Sylwester Suszek. The exchange rebranded as Zondacrypto after relocating its registration to Estonia in 2020 under parent company BB Trade Estonia. The exchange claimed 1.3 million clients, primarily Polish.
The exchange froze withdrawals and ceased operations in April. Przemysław Kral, who became chief executive after Suszek disappeared in March 2022, has not been seen since April 16. He previously told customers the exchange held 4,500 BTC that only Suszek could unlock. Estonia's financial intelligence unit revoked BB Trade Estonia's license on June 29.
Earlier Detentions and Allegations
Three other suspects—Anna P., Jaromira W., and Rafał Z.—were placed in pretrial detention for three months on September 4. Among the allegations against them: nearly €8 million left the operator's account in October to purchase property in France, a €2.9 million loan was recorded as repaid when it had not been, two Katowice properties worth 700,000 and 800,000 złoty were transferred without payment, and 7.5 million złoty was laundered through fictitious property purchases.
One charge alleges Anna P. obstructed proceedings into Suszek's deprivation of liberty by removing a hard drive from a filling station's CCTV recorder and incited false testimony. All three suspects have denied the charges.
The Katowice regional prosecutor's office opened the investigation in April and has received several thousand complaints related to large-scale fraud and money laundering.
