A former Polish police officer, identified as Artur K., was charged on Tuesday, 22 September, in connection with the investigation into the collapse of Zondacrypto, the crypto exchange formerly known as BitBay. He is the sixth suspect charged in the case.
The arrest was ordered by the Silesian branch of the national prosecutor's department for organised crime and corruption, and was carried out by Poland's central bureau for combating cybercrime. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek announced the arrest.
Artur K. faces charges of participating in an organised criminal group, causing large-scale financial harm to Bit Bay, BB Trade Estonia and a third company, complicity in embezzlement, complicity in computer fraud, and money laundering. A search of his home led to the seizure of documents relating to the platform's operations. His questioning was still underway on Tuesday.
Founder still missing
The case is tied to the disappearance of Zondacrypto's founder, Sylwester Suszek, who vanished in March 2022. He was last seen at a fuel depot, which police in Katowice are now searching. One of the charges brought in the broader investigation concerns the "unlawful deprivation of liberty" of Suszek. A separate suspect has been accused of removing the hard drive from a petrol station's surveillance recorder.
According to investigators, roughly 4,500 bitcoins were under Suszek's sole control at the time of his disappearance — a holding worth close to $390 million at current prices.
From Katowice to Tallinn
The platform was founded in Katowice in 2014 as BitBay before relocating its headquarters to Estonia in 2020 under the entity BB Trade Estonia. It rebranded as Zondacrypto and claimed 1.3 million clients, most of them Polish.
Withdrawals from the platform were frozen in April. Estonia's financial intelligence unit revoked its licence on 29 June. Among the suspects previously charged is Radosław Piesiewicz, former president of the Polish Olympic Committee.
Prosecutors say more than 3,600 client complaints have been filed, with estimated losses of around 350 million zlotys, roughly $94 million.
