BitRiver Founder Detained Amid $1 Billion Fraud Allegations

Russia's largest crypto mining company, BitRiver, is facing further turmoil as its founder, Igor Runets, has been transferred to a pretrial detention facility in connection with a 1 billion ruble fraud case.

The Zamoskvoretsky District Court moved Runets from house arrest to a detention center on July 29, where he will spend at least two months while investigators build their case against him under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code.

The allegations state that a company controlled by Runets received full advance payment from En+, a group of Russian metallurgical and energy companies, for mining equipment but never delivered the goods and failed to return the funds, causing close to 1 billion rubles in damages.

This is not Runets's first run-in with authorities this year; he was arrested in February on suspicion of concealing assets meant to cover tax debts and placed under house arrest for alleged tax evasion.