Key Takeaways
- Half of the funds from Bankera’s 100 million euro ICO were moved to a bank in Vanuatu that was then bought by the founders, Vytautas Karalevičius, Justas Dobiliauskas and Mantas Mockevičius.
- Some of the transfers from Bankera-associated firms were labeled simply as movements between “own accounts.”
A cross-border investigation has found that the founders of Bankera, a Lithuania-based crypto company, redirected tens of millions of euros raised from their 2017–2018 BNK token sale into personal real estate investments.
Documents reviewed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) show that funds moved from investor wallets through a network of companies controlled by Bankera’s founders—Vytautas Karalevičius, Mantas Mockevičius, and Justas Dobiliauskas—before being loaned to themselves via a bank they owned in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu.
That bank, Pacific Private Bank (PPB), was purchased by the founders just before the ICO concluded. Between February 2018 and September 2021, over 45 million Euros passed through PPB. Loans were issued to the founders and firms they controlled. These funds were then used to acquire high-end properties in Lithuania, Vanuatu, and the French Riviera.
The BNK ICO promised investors weekly returns based on revenue from Bankera and its sister crypto exchange, SpectroCoin. It raised over 100 million euros. But after the ICO, the BNK token’s value collapsed, and scheduled payouts dwindled. By 2022, revenue-sharing payments had stopped entirely. Bankera never secured the European banking license it said it was pursuing.
Some of the transfers from Bankera-associated firms were labeled simply as movements between “own accounts.” The use of the money was not disclosed to investors at the time.
The structure involved multiple jurisdictions. BNK tokens were issued by Finalify Ltd., a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. ICO funds were handled by Lithuanian company Pervesk and moved through Spectro Finance, which operated the SpectroCoin exchange.
After the acquisition of PPB, loans were issued to entities owned by the founders. Real estate purchases followed, including a villa on the French Riviera and beachside resorts. Some of the founders have since relocated to Monaco.
Following the release of the findings, Lithuania’s Chief Prosecutor has requested a review to determine whether a criminal investigation into the founders is warranted.
Bankera’s website remains online. It continues to offer services described as “a modern bank account alternative,” though it still lacks a banking license in the EU.
