A Polish Court Backed Prosecutors’ Push to Jail Roman Ż.
The court sided with the National Prosecutor’s Office, approving pretrial detention for Roman Ż. late on September 7, a decision confirmed by Poland’s Prosecutor General, Waldemar Żurek, and reported as the fifth detention in the case by Decrypt. Roman Ż. was arrested on September 5. For related coverage, see AINext Awards & Conference Dubai 2026: Where AI Leaders, Innovators and Decision-Makers Shape the Future of Artificial Intelligence.
Prosecutors filed the application at the Katowice-Wschód District Court. They brought two charges: participation in an organized criminal group, and misappropriation carried out through computer fraud. To justify custody, they cited a potential sentence of up to 10 years and what they called substantiated fears of flight and interference with the proceedings. For related coverage, see Arthur Hayes Criticizes CLARITY Act, Urges Trump Veto.
The heart of the case against him is an alleged PLN 7.8 million misappropriation count. Roman Ż. denied the offenses and gave explanations, according to the official statement.
Roman Ż.: alleged misappropriation
PLN 7.8 million
The confirmation came straight from the prosecutor general. Here is his statement on X announcing that the court had granted the detention request.
Sąd uwzględnił wniosek prokuratury i wyraził zgodę na tymczasowe aresztowanie Romana Ż. https://t.co/5wpXBmEMoG
— Waldemar Żurek (@w_zurek) September 7, 2026
Source: @w_zurek on X
Fifth-Suspect Label, Fuzzy Chronology
The “fifth suspect” framing traces to Decrypt’s reporting, not to a full, independently obtained court roster. Treat the ordinal as a count of detentions reported so far, not proof of a single coordinated scheme.
What the official record does show: on September 4, the court ordered three earlier suspects, Anna P., Jaromira W. and Rafał Z., held in pretrial detention for three months. All three denied their charges.
The allegations against them are distinct. Prosecutors describe a transfer of nearly EUR 8 million on October 9, 2025 from the exchange operator’s account to buy property in France, tied to Jaromira W., plus a separate EUR 2.9 million loan they say was falsely acknowledged as repaid. Against Rafał Z., they allege PLN 7.5 million in laundering through fictitious property purchases and a further PLN 1.7 million misappropriation count. These figures are separate allegations and should not be summed into a customer-loss total.
What’s Actually Established About Zondacrypto’s Connection
The prosecutor’s office names BB Trade Estonia OU as ZondaCrypto’s operator. It alleges Anna P. obstructed the investigation into the deprivation of liberty of Sylwester Suszek by taking a CCTV recorder hard drive and inducing false testimony.
That is the extent of the verified link: a criminal investigation connected to an exchange operator, not an established finding against the company itself. The missing pieces, from the suspect’s precise role to any effect on customers, are absent from the official material, which is not the same as proof that authorities are hiding them.
Several widely cited details remain unconfirmed. According to unconfirmed reports relayed by Decrypt, the exchange claimed 1.3 million clients, most of them Polish, Estonia’s financial intelligence unit revoked BB Trade Estonia’s license on June 29, 2026, and a company figure of 4,500 BTC accessible only by Suszek was cited. None of those points was independently verified here.
The case lands as Poland tightens its grip on the sector, following moves such as the country’s strict crypto regulation bill that rattled the industry. It also revives the questions about missing funds and frozen access that have shadowed other platforms, from a reported network halt after an alleged large BTC withdrawal to the drawn-out effort to recover thousands of bitcoin.
For now, one man sits in custody, three others were detained before him, and the exchange’s operator faces allegations it has yet to answer in open court. Who is the sixth?
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.
