Earlier today, the Bulgarian police stormed into the headquarters of prominent crypto lender Nexo. In Sofia, an operation is now underway to combat a massive plan including financial crimes, money laundering, and breaches of UN sanctions against Russia. Reports claim that this is the reason behind the latest raid.
Prosecutors, investigators, and counterintelligence personnel are reportedly at the site, according to the local media. Additionally, police personnel is policing the buildings connected to Nexo’s owners.
The investigation into the cryptocurrency company’s operations in the nation was started several months ago. Foreign services discovered suspicious transactions that were reportedly intended to get around sanctions put in place by the US, the UK, and the EU against Russian banks, businesses, and individuals. This is what prompted the raid.
Nexo is currently under investigation for running a criminal organization, money laundering, tax fraud, computer fraud, and crimes related to providing financial services without the required licenses.
The official spokesperson for Bulgaria’s Attorney General further stated,
“Currently, there are actions to investigate and question witnesses at the National Investigation Service. On the territory of the capital, there are massive actions to investigate, with aim of neutralizing the illegal and criminal activity of the crypto bank Nexo. This bank has created and maintains a multinational platform for trade and lending cryptocurrency. Pre-trial proceedings have been filed, alleging that the main organizers of the activity are Bulgarian citizens and its main activity is carried out from the territory of Bulgaria”
It didn’t end there. 300 agents are actively engaged in the task of taking the necessary measures against Nexo.
Nexo responds
The crypto industry comes with its own set of pros and cons. On one hand, there is financial freedom and its growing value. On the other, there are financial crimes that follow suit. Responding to the above allegations, Nexo further tweeted,
Furthermore, the firm pointed out how it has over 30 AML compliance officers keeping things in check. In addition to this, Nexo also highlighted the Chainalysis report on how “Crypto is actually terrible for illicit purposes”
Since Nexo was being accused of trying to evade sanctions against Russia, the firm put forth the initiative it started for Ukraine.
While more details regarding the situation are yet to come, the price of its native crypto began to plummet. At press time, NEXO was trading for $0.7105 with a 2.52 percent drop.
Additionally, it should be noted that crypto lender Vauld recently called off a deal with Nexo.