Pavel Lerner, the managing director of the cryptocurrency exchange EXMO was abducted by “unknown persons” in Kiev, reports Ukraine-based web publication Strana.ua. According to their sources, Lerner was held while leaving his office in the center of town and driven off in a black Mercedes-Benz.
Currently, multiple investigations are underway to determine why and by whom Lerner was kidnapped.
According to Strana.ua, Lerner is a Russian citizen who holds a residence permit in Poland and is involved in a number of crypto/ Blockchain startups in Ukraine. Lerner’s Facebook page says he is originally from Kursk, Russia. EXMO’s site states that the company is based in Polegate, England.
EXMO representatives told local crypto journal ForkLog that the incident has not affected the company’s functioning and that users’ data and funds have in no way been compromised:
“We are doing everything possible to speed up the search of Pavel Lerner. Any information regarding his whereabouts is very much appreciated. Despite the situation, the exchange is working as usual. We also want to stress that nature of Pavel’s job at EXMO doesn’t assume access either to storages or any personal data of users. All users funds are absolutely safe.”
In other news from Ukraine, earlier this month in Odessa, ForkLog reported that both their office and their CEO’s apartment were raided by members of the Ukrainian Security Service. The raid culminated in the seizure of equipment, including those on which personal and corporate cryptocurrency funds were held.