Polish authorities have detained additional suspects as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into the collapse of Zondacrypto, one of the leading cryptocurrency trading platforms in Poland and the wider region. Among those recently detained is a well-known Polish stock market trader. The arrests come amid mounting allegations of fraud, money laundering, and political connections — a case that has become one of the largest crypto-related criminal probes in the country's history and a test of how EU member states police exchange collapses.

Three new suspects detained, Zaorski in jail

Polish law enforcement has taken another three individuals into custody within the criminal investigation into the dramatic collapse of the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The arrests took place on Wednesday at the request of prosecutors, who also ordered the seizure of luxury vehicles, valuables, and a significant amount of cash, according to local media.

Officers from the provincial police headquarters in Katowice, the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland, detained two individuals with the initials J.W. and A.P. Representatives of the Central Bureau of Combating Cybercrime apprehended a third suspect, R.Z., the Prosecutor General's Office announced, as quoted by the business news portal Money.pl.

The PAP news agency reported that Rafał Zaorski, a famous stock market investor, was brought to the Katowice branch of the National Public Prosecutor's Office on the afternoon of August 2. "I am a victim," he told reporters while being escorted into the building, offering no further comment, according to national broadcaster Polskie Radio (PR).

Zaorski has previously been linked to Sylwester Suszek, the still-missing founder of BitBay, the predecessor of Zondacrypto. Polish media identified the other two detainees as Jaromira W. and Anna P., both of whom are connected to the high-profile case. Jaromira is the former wife of Marian W., also known as "Maniek," the main suspect in Suszek's disappearance. Anna was a close associate of his, according to Onet.pl.

The collapse of Zondacrypto

Zonda was the largest digital currency exchange on the Polish market before it collapsed earlier this year amid liquidity problems that led to halted withdrawals — the same failure pattern seen in other major exchange collapses, where customers discovered their funds were inaccessible only after withdrawals were frozen.

The platform was launched as BitBay in Poland in 2014 by Sylwester Suszek, who also served as its CEO. It was later sold, allegedly to a notorious Russian mafia group. The company subsequently rebranded as Zondacrypto and relocated its headquarters to Estonia, operating under a license obtained by BB Trade, an entity registered in the Baltic state.

Under Przemysław Kral, who took over management in early 2021, it became one of the largest crypto trading venues in Eastern Europe. Suszek disappeared shortly afterwards, and Kral has accused him of never handing over the keys to a wallet holding 4,500 BTC.

Kral himself went missing in mid-April of this year, shortly after denying the exchange was in trouble. He was believed to have fled first to Israel, where he holds citizenship, and then to Dubai. According to Polish media reports, he eventually agreed to help authorities unravel the case, which appears to be a scam that may have affected more than 30,000 Poles who lost at least $95 million.

Marian W., the man who introduced Kral to Suszek, is believed to have been the one actually pulling the strings at the company. He is also reportedly hiding in the UAE. The successive disappearances of key figures — Suszek, then Kral, with Marian W. abroad — have left investigators and victims contending with a chain of custody in which the people who allegedly controlled the platform's funds are outside Poland's immediate reach.

Who is Rafał Zaorski and what is his connection to Zonda?

Speaking at a press conference, Poland's Minister of Justice Waldemar Żurek revealed that the arrested individuals may possess information about the disappearance of Sylwester Suszek. This applies in particular to Rafał Zaorski, who is believed to be connected to the missing crypto entrepreneur and his digital asset trading company.

Zaorski is a well-known Polish stock market speculator who gained popularity by publicly sharing his investment results, including multi-million-dollar profits and losses. In April 2026, he was convicted of using insider information while trading shares of the Merlin Group, a Warsaw-based e-commerce operator and retailer.

The investigation into Zondacrypto's collapse was opened on April 17 by the District Prosecutor's Office in Katowice, citing suspicions of large-scale fraud and money laundering. The case has since grown into a major political scandal as well, with Zonda's management accused of sponsoring conservative political events and figures in exchange for favorable crypto regulation.

The "Crypto-Asset Market Act" proposed by the centrist, liberal government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk has been vetoed twice by President Karol Nawrocki and returns to parliament this week. The legislative standoff means that while the EU-wide MiCA regulatory framework governs crypto-asset services across the bloc, Poland's own national implementation law remains in political limbo even as the Zonda case unfolds.

Earlier arrests in the Zondacrypto case include that of Radosław Piesiewicz, head of the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOl), who was detained at the end of August. He was taken into custody for accepting an expensive gift from the crypto firm's boss — a €40,000 watch — in exchange for favorable treatment in Zonda's sponsorship deals. The widening circle of detainees — from exchange insiders to a sports official and now a prominent trader — indicates the probe is reaching beyond the company itself into its broader network of associates.

Source: Cryptopolitan