Poland makes three more arrests in widening Zondacrypto collapse investigation

Detentions in Katowice

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, officers from the provincial police headquarters in Katowice detained two people identified by initials J.W. and A.P., while the Central Bureau of Combating Cybercrime arrested R.Z. PAP reported that Zaorski was brought to the Katowice branch of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office in the afternoon of August 2.

Escorted into the building, Zaorski briefly told reporters, “I am a victim,” but did not comment further. Polish media have linked him previously to Suszek, the missing founder of BitBay, the exchange that later became Zondacrypto.

The other two detainees were described in local reports as people connected to the same high-profile case. Onet.pl said Jaromira W. is the former wife of Marian W., while Anna P. was a close associate of him.

Links to the missing founder

Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said at a press conference that the newly arrested individuals may hold information about Suszek’s disappearance. He said that assessment applied in particular to Zaorski, who is believed to be connected to the missing entrepreneur and his crypto trading business.

Marian W., also known as “Maniek,” has been described as the main suspect in Suszek’s disappearance. He is also thought to have been the person effectively pulling the strings at the company after introducing Przemysław Kral to Suszek. Polish media have reported that Marian W. is hiding in the United Arab Emirates.

How Zondacrypto unraveled

The exchange began in Poland in 2014 as BitBay, founded by Suszek, who also served as chief executive. It was later sold, allegedly to a notorious Russian mafia group, then rebranded as Zondacrypto and moved its headquarters to Estonia, operating under a license held by BB Trade.

Under Przemysław Kral, who took over management in early 2021, the platform became one of Eastern Europe’s largest crypto exchanges. Suszek disappeared soon afterward, and Kral later accused him of never handing over access keys to a wallet containing 4,500 BTC.

Zonda collapsed earlier this year after liquidity problems led to halted withdrawals. Kral disappeared as well after denying in mid-April that the exchange was in trouble. He was believed to have gone first to Israel, of which he is a citizen, and then to Dubai. Polish media later reported that he agreed to assist investigators.

Scale of the case and political fallout

Prosecutors opened the Zondacrypto investigation on April 17 through the District Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice, citing suspicions of large-scale fraud and money laundering. Reports in Poland say the suspected scheme may have affected more than 30,000 people, with losses of at least $95 million.

The matter has also developed into a political scandal. Zonda’s management has been accused of sponsoring conservative political events and figures in an effort to secure favorable crypto regulation.

That controversy has overlapped with the debate over Poland’s proposed Crypto-Asset Market Act. The bill, put forward by the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, was vetoed twice by President Karol Nawrocki and is due to return to parliament this week.

What comes next

The latest arrests follow earlier detentions in the same investigation, including that of Polish Olympic Committee head Radosław Piesiewicz at the end of August. He was accused of accepting a €40,000 watch from the exchange’s boss in return for favorable treatment in sponsorship dealings.

For now, the confirmed next step is the continuation of the Katowice-led probe, which is examining the exchange’s collapse, the disappearance of Suszek and the network of people tied to the company’s operations and political connections.