Poland charges fifth suspect in Zondacrypto case

Polish prosecutors have charged a fifth person in the Zondacrypto exchange case, and a Katowice court has ordered the suspect jailed pending trial. This furthers a fraud probe over users’ funds reportedly worth more than $94 million.

The man, identified in reporting as Roman Ż., is facing two counts according to Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office on Monday. One count accuses him of belonging to an organized criminal group set up to commit computer fraud against crypto exchange users, while the other alleges he helped misappropriate user funds. Both counts are based on the same amount of money, which is 7.8 million złoty, or approximately $2.1 million.

Court jails suspect over China travel plans

Officers detained Roman Ż. on the afternoon of September 5 in the Silesia region after learning that he planned to fly to China. His lawyer, Błażej Gazda, said the trip was for business and that his client had a return ticket dated September 13.

However, prosecutors were not persuaded and asked the Katowice-East District Court to keep him in custody. They cited the possibility of a sentence of up to 10 years, the risk that he could obstruct the Zondacrypto case, and the possibility that he could flee.

Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek confirmed late on September 7 that the court had granted the request, and during searches of the arrest site and the suspect’s registered address, investigators seized luxury watches and documents linked to the exchange. The searches were carried out in cooperation with Poland’s Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime and Katowice regional police.

Four others already charged

Roman Ż. will be the fifth person publicly charged in the Zondacrypto case. The first was Radosław P., president of the Polish Olympic Committee, charged on August 27 in connection with paid protection and with favoring some creditors over others as insolvency loomed. A court later ordered his detention, and he has denied any wrongdoing.

Police then detained three more people, Anna P., Jaromira W., and Rafał Z., on September 2, with the courts approving a three-month pretrial detention for all three on September 4. According to previous reporting by Crypropolitan, the two women are accused of being part of an organized group that targeted assets connected to Zondacrypto’s founder, while Rafał Z. is charged over the alleged misappropriation of 1.7 million złoty entrusted by the exchange operator.

Prosecutors say they have frozen over 100 million złoty for potential future compensation, along with about €4 million held in a French bank account linked to a company transfer registered in Monaco.

From BitBay to collapse

The exchange started out in 2014 as BitBay, founded by Sylwester Suszek, and rebranded to Zondacrypto in 2021. Gazda described his client as a former business partner of Suszek who helped run BitBay before the name change.

Trouble surfaced in early 2026 when customers began to complain about delayed and frozen withdrawals. The crypto exchange acknowledged payment delays in late February, after which it suspended Bitcoin deposits on March 17.

Trading stopped totally in April and Zondacrypto’s website went offline on April 23, with its linked ZND token tanking to basically zero. The Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice opened its fraud and money-laundering investigation on April 17, and by mid-2026 more than 3,600 people had filed complaints. Prosecutors have stated that losses are estimated to be no less than 350 million złoty, equal to approximately $94 million.

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