Nexo is under money laundering investigation in Bulgaria

Bulgarian prosecutors, along with international agents, have launched a large-scale investigation into the crypto lender, Nexo. The company is accused of being involved in violation of sanctions against Russia. Nexo has denied all accusations.

According to the StandartNews media outlet, the investigation into Nexo started a few months ago, claiming the crypto lender provided investors in cryptocurrencies with promises of high returns. Now, up to 300 people are working on the case, including local and international authorities. Another media program also drew attention to the supposed connections of Nexo with the Bulgarian government, noting that it was co-founded by Antoni Trenchev, a former member of parliament, and Georgi Shulev, the son of Lydia Shuleva who was the previous deputy prime minister.

Nexo dismissed the allegations, saying that it always complies with the law and that prosecutors are now opting for the “kick first, ask questions later” approach:

As for allegations of sanction violations against Russia, Nexo points out that they launched the “Crypto for Ukraine” campaign:

After the beginning of the horrible war in Ukraine, the first order of business was to help fundraise for those affected. The second was, of course, to comply with the sanctions, and Nexo took one of the most aggressive approaches here.

In the meantime, crypto lender’s offices in Sofia, Bulgaria, were raided by local police on January 14. Nexo co-founder, Antoni Trenchev, confirmed the raid in a message to Bloomberg:

They are inquiring about a Bulgarian entity of the group that is not customer facing but only has OpEx (operational expenditures) related functions. This is a coordinated attack as is evident from the absurd allegations.

Another media outlet, BNT News, reported the event, adding that Nexo is a fraud and that the U.S. states did not approve the lender, which led to Nexo leaving the U.S. — further proof that local regulators are not coming up empty when they accuse Nexo of multiple crimes.

Related: Nexo hits a wall with US regulators