Nexo co-founder calls financial crimes allegations ‘absurd’

Nexo’s co-founder and managing partner Antoni Trenchev confirmed that authorities are present at one of Nexo’s offices in Bulgaria following local reports that the Sofia office was raided in relation to “financial crimes.”

Trenchev told CryptoSlate that “Bulgaria is the most corrupt country in the EU” and called the allegations “absurd” as Nexo is  “one of the most stringent entities with regards to KYC/AML.”

Trenchev said the nature of the investigation is related to a non-customer-facing part of the business. He added:

“They [authorities] are inquiring about a Bulgarian entity of the group that is not customer facing but only has operational expense related functions – payroll, customer support, back office.”

Meanwhile, a Nexo spokesperson said the investigation and raid were politically motivated and linked to the Ukraine-Russia war.

The spokesperson said:

“Since the onset of the war in Ukraine we have helped raise millions for the victims there and restricted clients from Russia and sanctioned regions.”

They added that the exchange was facing backlash for its pro-Ukraine stance in a country where opinion on the matter is extremely divided.

The uncertainty around the situation coincides with a fall in the price of Nexo’s native token NEXO — which is down 5% on the day as of press time.

Community concerns

Trenchev previously told CryptoSlate during an interview that Nexo had “acquired licenses that were not required to stay ahead of the regulatory game.”

However, Nexo has been a continued target of criticism from the crypto community in relation to potential insolvency. However, so far the exchange has not shown any signs of collapse and continues to trade and support withdrawals for all customers as of press time.