The court of Limassol awarded Sergey Mayzus, the owner of payment companies, including the BTC-e exchange, with compensation of € 38 million for “reputation damage” caused to him after the exchange closed.
This decision will stir up the calmed swamp a bit, swallowing the deposits of BTC-e and WEX customers, although it will not clarify the long history of the exchange and the fate of the money lost on it. The decision of the Cypriot court in favor of Maysus, issued a month ago, drew attention
ICO BANK founder Mikhail Zhukhovitsky on his Facebook page.
As reported
AGP Law Firm representing Sergey Mayzus and his companies Mayzus Financial Services Ltd, OKPAY CY Ltd and OKPAY Inc:
“We are proud to have turned the problem of our clients into a successful lawsuit against money launderers and to a substantial, one-of-a-kind compensation of more than € 38 million.”
This business is far from new, the process lasted two years. The owner of OKPAY and MoneyPolo payment systems Sergey Mayzus filed a lawsuit in a Cyprus court in the fall of 2017 demanding to recover € 1.4 billion from Alexander Vinnik, who was detained
in Greece in the summer of 2017 and suspected by the US authorities of money laundering in the amount of about $ 4 billion through cryptocurrencies. Until now, unknown BTC-e owners have denied Vinnik’s involvement in the management of the exchange.
At € 1.4 billion, Meisus estimated the damage to his business reputation, which was allegedly damaged as a result of fraudulent actions by Vinnik. Vinnik’s defense then called these claims absurd and unfounded. In particular, Vinnik’s lawyer Timofei Musatov stated:
“According to Vinnik, this lawsuit was most likely filed in order to whitewash the name of Sergei Mayzus in the press. In addition, the money of the customers is directly located in Mayzus firms, that is, the exchange opened accounts in Mayzus companies, so the money was not on the exchange, but on the accounts of companies controlled by Sergey Mayzus. Accordingly, the entire benefit of the enterprise from this criminal case should be in its hands. ”
Based on the statement of Mayzus, filed in the court of Limassol, Alexander Vinnik and his “business partners” entered into a conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering, and also provided false information and documents when using payment systems owned by Mayzus.
After the scandalous closure of the exchange, Sergey Mayzus and his family began to receive threats in connection with the assumption that his payment systems were used for money laundering, and significant amounts were in his hands. However, Maisus denied this information and published a statement on OKPAY’s website shortly after Vinnik’s arrest.
The decision of the Cyprus court is unlikely to change anything for all involved parties, and will benefit mainly the lawyers who led it. The defendants in the case were Alexander Vinnik and the offshore company Canton Business Corporation, formally managing BTC-e. It is hardly worth expecting to receive 38 million euros from them. Sergey Mayzus, at least from the legal side, was able to “whiten” the reputation of himself and his companies.
As for the real owners of the former exchange, which still remain anonymous, this modest “appendage” to all other requirements and charges against them does not matter.
Recall that last week the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent
new arguments to the Greek government, which should contribute to the extradition of Alexander Vinnik to the Russian Federation. Vinnik’s extradition is sought by several countries at once, including Russia, the USA and France, each of which brings its own set of charges against it. As a result, Vinnik has been wandering in Greek prisons for two and a half years, and the outcome is still unclear.
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