Laundering money is one of the hardest things for cartels to do…so we are told. As Part 2 unfolds, we dig into the “potential” cartel involvement and start to paint the larger picture of how this is all intertwined together.
Cartel association
On April 7th of 2018, reports originating from Poland sources informed readers that Polish prosecutors seized €400 mil from two companies, referred to as company M and company C, involving a long link of individuals and eventually leading to Bitfinex; and potential association to cartel involvements.
[1] The story began when the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in the process of building a new embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Company M, owned by a Canadian of Panamanian descent, impersonated the building contractor and intercepted the $400mil payment. Through an investigation with Interpol, it was revealed that company M was associated with company C, owned by a Colombian with Panamanian citizenship, who was in turn associated with a large online exchange of cryptocurrencies.
Polish authorities reported that the two companies specialize in money laundering. “The scale of financial operations indicates that these bills were to hide money from smuggling cocaine to Europe. The companies were also used for large scale scams. Criminals have hidden their operations, also exchanging money for cryptocurrencies, obliterating traces.”
The funds from the two companies were deposited at a branch of one of the banks in the accounts of the two companies registered in Poland, which is coincidentally the Banku Spółdzielczym w Skierniewicach – the bank where Bitfinex is registered. Surprise!
A forum user admitted to being a interrogated witness in the case, and that the company has paid them used a Bitfinex account, further strengthening the allegations. [2]
Now why would Bitfinex need to pay a witness? And what does that have to do with CryptoCapital? [4]
Members of CryptoCapital Management
Well, when Bitfinex opened its Polish bank account in Nov 2017 with the reported intention of trading euro pairs, the company name under the account was registered as Crypto SP, and as located in Panama. This company, Crypto SP, is owned by Crypto Capital Corp, the director of which is the very same Ivan Manuel Molina Lee.
But according to them? Nothing! CryptoCapital has since denied affiliations to the scandals and associated materials, contents, and media related to Bitfinex has subsequently been removed. This was not the first incidence of CryptoCapital removing bad publicity either. [3]
So the reality is we have two companies known for money laundering putting their cash into the same bank as Bitfinex. Furthermore, one of the owners of these companies is affiliated with a large online exchange and also has Panamanian citizenship, where CryptoCapital is based out of.
If you think the picture can’t be clearer, wait for Part 3…
Sources
[2]https://forum.bitcoin.pl/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=28309&p=472711#p472711
[3]https://twitter.com/rolflobker/status/1090542851262423040
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