Binance's Former Russia Head, Blum Co-Founder Arrested in Connection to Fraud Case

Vladimir Smerkis, Binance's former Russia division head, was arrested in Russia for being connected to a large-scale criminal fraud case, local media outlet TASS reported on Sunday.Zamoskvoretsky District Court, which resides in Moscow, granted an investigator's request to detain Smerkis, an unnamed law enforcement agency source told TASS. The report did not share specific details of the fraud case. CoinDesk was unable to contact the Zamoskvoretsky District Court for more information source: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/05/19/binances-former-russia-head-blum-co-founder-arrested-in-connection-to-fraud-case