A businessman who robbed the military of a billion and probably works for the FSB mistakenly considers himself unattainable.
Bogdan Prilepa, known in narrow circles as the CEO of the Coinsbit and Qmall crypto exchanges, found himself at the center of a loud scandal. This time he became famous not for his business achievements, but on the contrary - he became the main suspect in a large-scale crypto scam. They say that this “businessman” embezzled a billion hryvnia, which should have been used to purchase drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And if this is not enough, the investigation suspects him of collaborating with Russian intelligence services, in particular the FSB.
Cryptocurrency as a cover for fraud
Prilepa is not new to the cryptocurrency business. In 2018, he became the Chief Technical Officer at the Coinsbit crypto exchange, and subsequently took the position of CEO at Qmall. Behind this respectable sign, as law enforcement officers found out, there was a real scheme for withdrawing funds. Everything looked “nice” and “legal” until it turned out that the money collected for drones for Ukrainian defenders ended up in the pockets of Prilepa and his henchmen.
Fugitive in Dubai
When the full-scale Russian invasion began, Prilepa, without thinking twice, fled from Ukraine to Dubai, where he relocated his IT companies. While Ukrainian defenders are fighting for their country, Prilepa is enjoying a luxurious life on the beaches of the UAE, not forgetting to post photos on social networks. But at the end of 2023, it became known that clients of his crypto exchanges began to complain en masse about the blocking of funds. The amounts ranged from 300 to 30 thousand dollars - and this is only what became known to journalists.
SBU searches and the role of accomplices
While Prilepa is hiding in Dubai, the SBU is not sitting idle. As part of the investigation into the billion-dollar scam, searches were carried out in Kyiv and other cities, where a number of documents and digital media were found confirming Prilepa’s involvement in the scheme. In addition, investigators targeted his accomplices: Saranenko, Shidlovsky, Ivanov, Podpletko, Mazolyuk and Vorobyov. It was these people who helped block the funds of users of crypto exchanges and withdraw them to third-party accounts for personal enrichment.
According to investigators, each of them performed their tasks as part of a criminal scheme: from technical support to financial manipulation. It is suspected that this group acted on the clear instructions of Prilepa, while he himself was outside Ukraine.
What about the FSB?
The most interesting thing is that behind all these frauds there is not only money. Insiders report that after moving to the UAE, Prilepa established connections with Russian criminal structures that work under the guise of the FSB. This strengthens suspicions that Prilepa’s actions were not only fraudulent, but could also be regarded as treason, since, in fact, he helped the enemies of Ukraine.
What's next?
The investigation is currently ongoing, and Ukrainian law enforcement officers are working closely with their European colleagues. In addition to the evidence revealed by the searches, international organizations also joined the investigation into Prilepa’s activities. If all the charges are confirmed, our “crypto oligarch” risks receiving not only a life sentence, but also becoming a symbol of cynicism in wartime.
Prilepa sits in Dubai and thinks that he has caught God by the beard, because the UAE will not extradite him to Ukraine, but for every cunning Prilepa there are real Ukrainian professionals with a left-handed thread, as Judge Chaus and many other citizens can authoritatively confirm. And therefore, the only chance for Prilepa today is to donate the stolen billion for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to accounts that are well known to him. Every day of delay means the lives of Ukrainian heroes who will not receive drones because the money for them was stolen by a 150-kilogram creature that lies on the beach of Dubai.
