NEXO offices in Bulgaria raided by authorities, money laundering claims

• Nexo offices in Bulgaria were raided by authorities early this morning.
• There are claims one of the users was financing terrorism.
• Nexo has confirmed the incident and said it is cooperating with authorities.

There are reports that the Bulgarian offices of crypto lender Nexo are being investigated by authorities for alleged money laundering, fraud, and tax offences. The Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office has issued a statement regarding the issue saying that investigations were underway to neutralize what they say is “criminal activity” of Nexo.

According to the authorities, more than 300 people are currently involved in the operation making it a major operation in Bulgaria. According to the statement:

“Active investigation actions are underway in the capital to neutralize illegal criminal activity of the Nexo crypto bank … Evidence has been collected that a person who used the platform and transferred cryptocurrencies has been officially declared a terrorist financing person.”

In a Twitter thread, Nexo has said that it cooperating with the authorities and regulators. A Nexo spokesperson also confirmed the raid at their Bulgarian office but said that they are one of the most stringent entities when it comes to KYC/AML. The spokesperson said:

“There are authorities at one of Nexo’s offices in Bulgaria which is, as you know the most corrupt country in the EU. They are making AML and tax-related inquiries about a Bulgarian entity of the group that is not customer facing, but only has back office functions – payroll, customer support, compliance. We are one of the most stringent entities with regards to KYC/AML.”

Taking out crypto-backed loans for cash

Nexo allows users to take out crypto-backed loans for cash and also provides products that allow users to earn interest on their crypto assets instead of letting them lie idle. Last year, Nexo became the first to offer a 12% APR on Apecoin.

The crypto lender has grown to become of the largest crypto lenders around the world with offices in various parts of the world including in countries like Bulgaria. It also ranks among the top ten best crypto apps for beginners as recorded in our earlier post.