BitRiver founder jailed ahead of trial over $12.5M fraud charges

BitRiver founder Igor Runets has been placed in pretrial detention on fraud charges involving $12.5 million, CoinDesk reported. Russian investigators believe Runets signed an $8 million contract in 2023 to supply mining equipment to Infrastructure of Siberia, a unit of En+, which accounts for about 5% of global aluminum output, and then failed to deliver the equipment, causing losses of more than 1 billion rubles ($12.5 million). Earlier in February, Runets was placed under house arrest on three tax evasion charges, and in the same month a regional arbitration court opened bankruptcy proceedings against Fox Group, the controlling shareholder that holds 98% of BitRiver.