(MENAFN) British police said on Thursday that they had detained the CEO, a sales executive, and the director of marketing of the cryptocurrency platform Bitzlato over allegations of money laundering.
Parallel raids were conducted in the US, France, Portugal, Cyprus, and Portugal as part of the police operation.
The French police disabled and confiscated the equipment used to host the cryptocurrency network, and a total of six persons, all of whom were citizens of Russia and Ukraine, were detained.
According to the police, Bitzalto was a key cryptocurrency for criminals to use to launder money on a global scale.
The platform launched in 2016 as BTC Banker in Russia and the surrounding nations. It became well-known as a Telegram bot for surreptitiously purchasing and selling different cryptocurrencies. Later, it broadened regionally, changed its name to Bitzlao, and in 2020, it released a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trade app.
According to Spanish authorities, since its inception, the technology's anonymity has enabled it to grow into one of the primary exchanges used by criminal groups, notably those connected to cybercrime.
MENAFN02022023000045014228ID1105514816
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.