The “red admin” of the Wex crypto exchange was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison and a fine of 500 thousand rubles. for theft of 3 billion rubles
The co-founder of the Wex crypto exchange, accused of embezzling several billion rubles, tried to ask for leniency from the President of the Russian Federation – and the state prosecution asked for a less severe punishment, which the judge further softened.
This became known on Wednesday, September 20, at a hearing in the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow, thanks to journalist Irek Murtazin who was present at the scene.
Wex collapsed in 2018, being the heir to the largest trading platform BTC-e, customer losses were estimated differently, the most impressive was an estimate of 16 billion rubles. The only defendant, arrested a year and a half ago, Alexey Bilyuchenko (who changed his last name to “Ivanov” on the eve of his arrest), admitted guilt long before the start of the trial.
At the first meeting on September 6, the state prosecution read Bilyuchenko’s testimony, from which it followed that the accused was listed as a Wex system administrator. But at the same time, he somehow controlled huge financial resources, distributing them to security forces and other persons who promised protection. The losses of Wex owners in court documents are estimated at 3.17 billion rubles. The owners are affiliated with Russian billionaire Konstantin Malofeev.
At the second and final court hearing on September 20, it became known that the defendant had appealed to President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu with a request to release him from custody, exempt him from punishment and send him “to a special military operation zone.” Bilyuchenko tried to explain his impulse by his childhood in military camps, his status as the son of an officer and the desire “to be at the forefront of the fight against the rising neo-fascism.” The court added copies of the letters to the case file.
However, the state prosecution, represented by the prosecutor, asked for 4.5 years in a general regime colony for Ivanov-Bilyuchenko and a fine of 1 million rubles under Article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Embezzlement”). Judge Varvara Oganova announced a break at about 1:45 p.m. to pronounce the final verdict.
And after about two hours it was announced: three and a half years in prison and only a 500,000 ruble fine. It was not announced that the defendant’s defense was going to challenge this lenient verdict. In addition, Bilyuchenko-Ivanov has already served a year and a half in a pre-trial detention center and, according to Irek Murtazin, who observed the process, he can write a petition for parole right now.
A court in Moscow imposed 3.5 years and a fine of half a million rubles on the co-founder of the notorious WEX crypto exchange, Alexey Bilyuchenko (before his arrest, he changed his last name to Ivanov). The administrator of the crypto exchange admitted guilt in embezzlement of users’ bitcoins for 3 billion rubles. Before the verdict, a curious thing happened that revealed the background of the whole case. Before the verdict, the nominal owner of WEX, recognized as a victim in the case, Donbass militiaman Dmitry Khavchenko, was detained by the police in a case of illegal arms trafficking. And the new director of the WEX exchange was Armenian citizen Igor Pravdin. This came as a surprise to Khavchenko; he said that people had already contacted the law enforcement agencies of Singapore, where the company was registered, about this.
The punishment for Alexey Bilyuchenko fits into the forecast given by Bits.media experts who observed the case. In exchange for a mild punishment, the co-founder of Wex could theoretically give away some more of the funds and remain in Russia, continuing to be the object of dividing up clients’ assets.
“There is a strange passage in the court’s verdict that the seizure of the accounts and real estate of the red admin (Bilyuchenko. – Bits. media) will not be lifted until settlement with all victims (not victims),” noted the founder of the Garantex cryptocurrency exchange, Sergei Mendeleev.
And he suggested that those affected by the collapse of Wex should file a class action lawsuit: “I’m ready to take action, if anything happens.”
Alexey Bilyuchenko remains wanted by the FBI. American law enforcement officers consider the Russian, together with his partner Alexander Vinnik, to be the creators of the BTC-e exchange, who laundered many billions of criminally acquired dollars. Vinnik was detained back in 2017, then extradited to the United States and could face up to 55 years in prison – although, judging by the latest actions of his lawyers, he may be investigated.