Europol Arrests 5 Execs of Bitzlato, Seizes €1 Billion in Crypto

• Europol has arrested 5 senior executives of the Bitzlato exchange, including the CEO, financial director, and marketing director.
• During the course of 8 house searches, Europol seized €18 million worth of cryptocurrency and froze over 100 crypto accounts holding assets worth €50 million.
• Analysis by Europol showed that roughly €1 billion worth of assets exchanged through Bitzlato had links to criminal activities.

European police agency Europol has arrested 5 senior executives of the Bitzlato exchange, including the CEO, financial director, and marketing director, in Spain. This arrest was made following a series of house searches conducted across Spain, Cyprus, Portugal, and the United States.

During the course of the house searches, Europol seized €18 million worth of cryptocurrency, and froze over 100 crypto accounts that were holding assets worth approximately €50 million. Analysis of these assets revealed that approximately 46% of the assets exchanged through Bitzlato, worth roughly €1 billion, had links to criminal activities.

This news comes shortly after the arrest of Bitzlato’s founder Anatoly Legkodymov by US authorities for running a money-transmitting business. Additionally, leading crypto exchange Binance was also named as one of the top three recipients of Bitzlato’s illegal funds.

The arrest of these five senior executives, as well as the freezing of the crypto accounts and seizure of the cryptocurrency, represents a major win for Europol in their fight against crime. It is hoped that this action will serve as a warning to other criminal elements in the cryptocurrency space, and that further arrests and seizures will take place in the future.