Former Polish Police Officer Charged as Zondacrypto Probe Searches Fuel Depot

Polish prosecutors have moved to expand their investigation into the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto, detaining a former police officer and searching the location where the platform’s founder was last seen. Authorities from the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime detained Artur K. on orders of the National Prosecutor’s Office organized crime department; prosecutors have charged him with membership of an organized criminal group and a set of offenses including aiding the misappropriation of customer funds, facilitating computer fraud, and laundering proceeds of crime, along with causing large-scale property damage to entities including BitBay and BB Trade Estonia.

Investigators are also conducting a detailed search of a fuel depot where Zondacrypto founder Sylwester Suszek was last observed in March 2022. Police from Katowice are performing the operation under a team of prosecutors and with expert witnesses, employing what the office described as advanced specialized forensic equipment. Prosecutors are treating Suszek’s case as unlawful deprivation of liberty rather than a routine disappearance; earlier in the inquiry one suspect was accused of removing a hard drive from a filling-station CCTV recorder.

Zondacrypto traces its roots to BitBay, founded by Suszek in Katowice in 2014. The firm relocated its registration to Estonia in 2020 under BB Trade Estonia, later operating as Zondacrypto and stating it had about 1.3 million clients, the majority of whom were Polish. The platform froze withdrawals and ceased normal operations in April, and Estonia’s financial intelligence unit revoked its operator license on June 29.

The probe has produced multiple criminal cases: at least five other people have been charged since August, including Radosław P., the former head of the Polish Olympic Committee. Those accused who have spoken publicly have denied wrongdoing, and none of the allegations has yet been adjudicated in court. Following the search of Artur K.’s home, prosecutors said they located documentation relating to the exchange’s operations; authorities are questioning him as a suspect and will decide whether to seek pre-trial detention.