Crypto-dealer Bohdan Prylepa and his associates: billion-dollar fraud or treason?
The latter is accused of organizing a scheme for withdrawing funds from other people’s crypto wallets, which were intended for purchasing drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
About the conduct of investigative actions StopCor learned from its own insider sources in the security structures.
Bohdan Prylepa is known in IT circles as a semi-criminal element specializing in launching so-called blockchain startups (mostly banal financial "pyramids"). In 2018 he became the Chief Technical Officer of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinsbit. He also worked as CEO at Qmall and Patex exchanges.
After the full-scale invasion began, Prylepa moved to Dubai (UAE) and partially relocated the technical staff of his controlled IT structures there. Soon, thousands of users of Coinsbit and other exchanges within the orbit of the pseudo-businessman (both from Ukraine and all over Europe) reported that they could not withdraw their funds from the system due to their blockage in crypto wallets. The amounts ranged from 300 to 30 thousand dollars.
According to insider information, it was during this period that Bohdan Prylepa began close collaboration with Russian criminal authorities. It is noted that the latter engage in organized criminal activity in the Russia and beyond under the "protection" of the FSB of Russia. In December last year, Prylepa’s controlled technical workers blocked all access to the system for his ex-partner. And Bohdan himself, likely, completely fell under the influence of Russian criminal elements, breaking any communication with actively donating Ukrainians to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to sources, to cleanse his reputation in Ukraine, Prylepa is using the stolen billions to fund numerous projects in Ukraine designed to create a media image of him as a successful businessman, patriot, and philanthropist benefactor.
From sources in law enforcement agencies, the media learned that Prilepa is being considered as a probable initiator of a large-scale scam: the investigation assumes that he provided technical employees Saranenko A.M., Shidlovskyi P.Yu., Ivanov R.E., Podpletko N.S., Mozolyuk O.V., and Vorobyev D.F. instructions on blocking funds and subsequently partially withdrawing them from the system for his own purposes and possibly in the interests of Russians.
Therefore, such actions, posing a threat to Ukraine’s defense capability and national security under martial law, can be qualified not only as fraud but also as treason (Article 111 of the Criminal Code). As far as we know, active cooperation is now underway between the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, the UAE, and European countries.
Based on the aforementioned facts incriminated to Bohdan Prylepa and his accomplices, the businessman could face life imprisonment.