A former Polish police officer has been charged in the Zondacrypto case, and the police are searching the location where its founder went missing

The Polish prosecutor's office has charged a former police officer in the case of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto. The Central Bureau of Cybercrime (CBZC) in Poland detained Artur K. on Tuesday under the orders of the organized crime department of the national prosecutor's office. He faces two charges: one for participating in an organized crime group, and the other for causing significant property losses to BitBay, BB Trade Estonia, and another entity, assisting in the misappropriation of entrusted property, aiding computer fraud, and money laundering. The prosecutor's office stated that a search of his residence uncovered documents related to the operation of the exchange, and he is being questioned as a suspect; the prosecutor's office will decide whether to apply for pre-trial detention.

Meanwhile, the police in Katowice are searching and investigating a fuel depot, which is the last known location of Zondacrypto founder Sylwester Suszek before he went missing in March 2022. The case is classified as illegal deprivation of liberty rather than a disappearance, as a suspect has been accused of removing a hard drive from the gas station's surveillance camera.

Suszek founded the exchange in Katowice in 2014, originally named BitBay, and relocated its registration to Estonia as BB Trade Estonia in 2020, rebranding it as Zondacrypto, claiming to have 1.3 million customers, most of whom are Polish. The exchange froze withdrawals and went offline in April, and the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit revoked its operating license on June 29. Since August, at least five people have been charged, including former Polish Olympic Committee president Radosław P. All public respondents have denied the charges, and the related accusations have not yet been tried in court.