Mr Oz Yosef of Crypto Capital, the former provider of payment processing to Bitfinex, has been indicted on three criminal charges in New York.
Earlier this year Bitfinex was accused by the New York Attorney's office of losing USD$850M and covering that loss with funds from Tether, possibly leading to Tether's becoming backed by less than the USD$1 per Tether as claimed.
The Panama based Crypto Capital dealt with Bitfinex for years and Bitfinex has alleged misrepresentations including:
Crypto Capital regularly referred to its integrity, banking expertise, robust compliance programme and financial licences. This was designed to assure us that Crypto Capital was capable of handling Bitfinex's transactions.
In addition to Mr Yosef, Mr Lee, the president of Crypto Capital, was arrested on a Polish European Arrest Warrant last week on suspicion of money laundering and possible drug connections. Following that arrest, Bitfinex issued a statement in which they alleged:
Bitfinex is the victim of a fraud... any suggestion that Crypto Capital laundered drug proceeds...at the behest of Bitfinex or its customers is categorically false.
Given the long running concerns over Bitfinex/Tether, it's anyone's guess as to how this will end.