Bulgaria Ends Investigation Into Nexo, Finds No Evidence of Crime

According to Blockworks, Bulgaria has announced the conclusion of its investigation into crypto company Nexo, finding no evidence of criminal activity. The probe began in January when Bulgarian officials raided Nexo's offices in search of alleged financial crimes, including tax evasion and fraud. A Nexo spokesperson stated at the time that the officials were inquiring about a Bulgarian entity of the group that handled operational expense-related functions, such as payroll, customer support, and back office tasks. The prosecutor's office of Bulgaria said in a statement on December 22 that there was no evidence of criminal activity in various forms of complicity to carry out banking activity without a corresponding permit, and no evidence of money laundering was collected. The prosecutor's office also noted that Bulgaria lacks a legal regime for activities related to crypto asset services, and the Nexo group companies are not subject to permit, registration, or licensing regimes. Nexo's managing partner Antoni Trenchev said in an emailed statement to Blockworks that the dropping of all charges against Nexo and its executives by the Bulgarian prosecutor's office, along with the confirmation that there were no crimes, shows that the entire attack on Nexo was political and should not have happened in the first place. Trenchev added that Nexo was very content with the result. The company began phasing out its US operations in December 2022 after seeking clarity on crypto regulation in the US. Nexo claimed that it engaged in more than 18 months of good-faith dialogue with US state and federal regulators but was unable to ensure that regulators were focused on the customer's best interests. In January, Nexo and the US Securities and Exchange Commission reached a $45 million settlement agreement, and the company agreed to stop offering its earn interest product, which promised annual interest of up to 20% to investors.