BitRiver CEO Igor Runets faces fraud charges in Russia

The founder and chief executive of the Russian Bitcoin mining giant BitRiver, Igor Runets, has been charged with large-scale fraud and remanded in custody.

The crypto entrepreneur, who was detained earlier this year on tax evasion charges and initially placed under house arrest, has been moved to a detention facility.

BitRiver CEO Runets is facing fraud charges in jail

The Russian judiciary is tightening the detention regime for Igor Runets after bringing new charges against him, local media reported.

The prominent crypto figure has been transferred from his home, where he had been held for almost six months, to a pretrial detention facility.

The measure has been approved by the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow on July 22, the business news outlet RBC revealed Wednesday.

Runets, who was first apprehended for evading taxation, has now been charged with large-scale fraud related to the failed supply of crypto mining hardware.

The equipment was ordered by companies from the En+ Holding, the major Russian energy and metals producer which relies heavily on hydroelectric power generation.

The financial damages inflicted have been estimated at almost 1 billion Russian rubles (more than $12.5 million), the report further unveiled, quoting two knowledgeable sources.

The head of the Russian mining behemoth BitRiver will spend at least two months in pretrial detention while the investigation into the case and his role continues, Bits.media added.

Igor Runets has been charged under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Federation’s Criminal Code, “large-scale fraud committed by an organized group,” the news outlet also detailed.

The crypto executive was moved to a dedicated detention facility on the request of security officials who cited the size of the damage caused and expressed concerns he might exert pressure on witnesses.

The district court in the Russian capital agreed and granted the motion, while his defense team and legal representatives of BitRiver are yet to comment on the decision.

Further developments will now depend on the results of upcoming examinations of the equipment and the testimonies of employees of En+, founded and controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

Story of Russia’s largest miner turns into criminal case

The Odessa-born Russian crypto entrepreneur Igor Runets established BitRiver in 2017 as a large operator of data processing centers and eco-friendly coin minting enterprise.

Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, the company’s main operations were based in energy-rich Russian regions such as Siberia, which also offer appropriate climatic conditions for mining.

Things were going well until the now 40-year-old businessman was detained in Moscow at the end of January 2026 and charged with multiple counts of tax fraud, as reported by Cryptopolitan.

Runets was placed under house arrest immediately after facing allegations of concealing assets to evade taxation and was supposed to remain at his residence for the duration of these proceedings.

His detention coincided with the launch of formal bankruptcy monitoring against entities in the BitRiver holding, the leading player in Russia’s crypto mining industry, booming despite bans and restrictions.

These proceedings began amid mounting debt and legal disputes. The petition against BitRiver’s main owner and manager, Fox Group, was filed by Infrastructure of Siberia, an affiliate of Deripaska’s En+.

Fox has accumulated an estimated debt of approximately $9.2 million and has been unable to secure sufficient funds to pay it off. As a result, BitRiver is now at risk of change of ownership as well.

Ukraine war-related sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2022 added to these troubles and BitRiver reportedly began slashing budgets and scaling back operations in late 2024.

A lawsuit filed by Infrastructure of Siberia in 2025 alleged that BitRiver received payment for mining equipment from the En+ firm, which was its key electricity supplier, but failed to deliver it.

In February 2026, Russia’s Federal Tax Service (FNS) filed for the bankruptcy of a BitRiver subsidiary responsible for a massive 100 MW mining project in the country’s Far East.

The unsuccessful undertaking in the Republic of Buryatia, which imposed seasonal restrictions on mining, is believed to have contributed significantly to the mining giant’s downfall.

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