Nexo’s Money Laundering Investigation in Bulgaria Closed Due to Lack of Evidence: Report

The
Bulgarian
Prosecutor’s
Office
has
closed
its
investigation
into
crypto
lender
Nexo
for
alleged
money
laundering
offenses
because
there
was
no
evidence
of
criminal
activity,

the
Bulgarian
News
Agency
reported
on
Friday.

A
probe
into
Nexo,
which

came
to
light
in
January
of
2023,
also
alleged
tax
offenses,
banking
without
a
license,
and
computer
fraud,
with
a
focus
on
four
of
its
executives
–
Kosta
Kanchev,
Antoni
Trenchev,
Kalin
Metodiev,
and
Trayan
Nikolov.

This
year
saw
a
general
clamping
down
on
cryptocurrency-related
activities
following
the
collapse
of
exchange
FTX
and
the
rapid
demise
of
other
crypto
firms
during
the
latter
half
of
2022.

Bulgarian
authorities
said
they
found
“no
evidence
of
criminal
activity,”
adding
that
“no
evidence
of
tax
offenses
or
computer
fraud
was
found
against
the
defendants,
either,”
according
to
the
report.
The
Prosecutors
also
concluded
that
the
products
offered
by
Nexo
do
not
constitute
financial
instruments,
the
report
added.

“The
dropping
of
all
charges
made
against
Nexo
and
its
executives
by
the
Bulgarian
Prosecutor’s
Office,
with
their
confirmation
that
there
were
no
crimes,
unequivocally
shows
that
the
whole
attack
on
Nexo
was
political
and
should
not
have
happened
in
the
first
place,”
Nexo
co-founder
Antoni
Trechev
told
CoinDesk
via
email.
“It
also
goes
a
long
way
in
clearing
our
names
and
is
a
vindication
for
all
good
actors
in
crypto.”