Dutch prosecutors have filed for bankruptcy against cryptocurrency platform Knaken and seized its assets in a criminal investigation.
Related
Dutch prosecutors have filed for Knaken's bankruptcy liquidation, freezing funds belonging to approximately 30,000 users.
According to BlockBeats, on June 30th, the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office filed a motion with the Rotterdam court to declare the cryptocurrency platform Knaken and its affiliated payment institution, Stichting Knaken Payments, bankrupt, arguing that this action is in the "public interest." Knaken ceased operations in early June, leaving approximately 30,000 users unable to withdraw funds from the platform. The prosecutor stated that the platform did not obtain a license from the Dutch Financial Markets Authority (AFM) as required by the EU's Crypto Asset Markets Regulation (MiCA), and that the liquidation process lacked orderly management. Knaken has stopped making payments to customers and reportedly advised users not to file claims for compensation. Meanwhile, the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Agency (FIOD) has launched a criminal investigation and searched related locations this Monday, seizing laptops, mobile phones, and some company assets. No arrests have been made so far. If the court approves the bankruptcy petition, a court-appointed bankruptcy administrator will take over the company's assets and be responsible for determining the repayment arrangements for customers and other creditors.
Dutch Prosecutors Sell $2.5M of Crypto From Bankrupt Platform Knaken
The trustee says Knaken bought the coins in its own name, leaving customers with a euro claim against a company that has collapsed.
Chilean regulators revoke the license of a cryptocurrency platform linked to Venezuelan gangs and order the return of customer funds.
According to a report by Livecoins, the Chilean Financial Markets Commission (CMF) has revoked the registration of cryptocurrency platform Plusspay due to its alleged links to the Venezuelan criminal organization "Tren de Aragua" and its alleged involvement in providing financial support to the group. In addition to Plusspay, several other institutions, including Pixeltec and Iuinvest, have also been disqualified from providing services in the Chilean market for failing to submit complete information as required by the Lei Fintec Act. These institutions are prohibited from acquiring new clients and are only permitted to perform clearing operations and return frozen funds to existing users. Regulators emphasized that payment and crypto service providers must increase transparency to prevent money laundering and illicit financial flows.
The US CFTC has filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency pool operator Trevor Vernon, alleging a $14.8 million investment fraud.
According to BlockBeats, on July 8th, the US CFTC filed a lawsuit against Trevor Vernon and his company, Argent Capital Management, on Tuesday. The lawsuit alleges that between March 2022 and February 2026, Vernon operated a commodity pool involving stock index futures, options, and crypto assets, raising approximately $14.8 million from at least 60 investors and falsely advertising investment performance, thus committing investment fraud. The CFTC claims that the transactions resulted in losses exceeding $8.6 million for investors. Vernon allegedly concealed these losses and misappropriated approximately $3 million to pay returns to investors, operating in a manner "similar to a Ponzi scheme," and misappropriated $136,000 for private jet travel. The regulator also points out that the transactions involved commodities such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and is requesting the court to prohibit Vernon from continuing related trading and registration activities, recover illegal gains, impose civil penalties, and compensate investors.
Vietnamese police reported on the ONUS cryptocurrency case, seizing over 350 kilograms of gold and silver and freezing eight real estate transactions.
Foresight News , citing Vietnam's Tuoi Tre newspaper, the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security recently held a press conference to report on the investigation into the ONUS cryptocurrency case. A representative from the Investigation and Security Department (A09) of the Ministry of Public Security stated that in the investigation of the ONUS cryptocurrency exchange's alleged embezzlement, police have seized over 350 kilograms of gold and silver, frozen transactions involving eight properties worth 200 billion Vietnamese dong, and suspended over 300 bank accounts used by the defendants to trade with investors. On March 23rd of this year, police filed criminal charges against eight defendants, accusing them of using computer and telecommunications networks to commit embezzlement and money laundering. Since 2018, the perpetrators have exploited the public's lack of understanding of cryptocurrencies, creating digital accounts through applications and packaging them as virtual currencies. They built trust and attracted investment through cyclical buying and selling between affiliated companies, ultimately embezzling funds. Between 2018 and 2021, they sold over 7 trillion Vietnamese dong worth of cryptocurrency. A representative from A09 stated that the case involves numerous individuals and users, with approximately 5 million user accounts currently in operation. Police have received over 2,000 reports from citizens, and the recovery of assets is ongoing. They are also investigating whether social media influencers colluded with the defendants in promoting the cryptocurrency.
Ukrainian police have dismantled a suspected cryptocurrency fraud network and seized over $448,000 in cash.
According to Mars Finance, on July 3, Ukrainian media outlet Interfax reported that Ukrainian law enforcement authorities dismantled a suspected cryptocurrency exchange network, seizing over $448,000 in cash. Ukrainian police conducted more than 40 raids in seven regions across the country and detained one suspect.