Canadian authorities take action to confiscate assets linked to QuadrigaCX CEO

The Canadian province of British Columbia’s director of civil forfeiture has issued an unexplained wealth order to seize cash, gold bars, and luxury items found in a safe deposit box tied to a co-founder of QuadrigaCX, a cryptocurrency exchange. An unexplained wealth order is a court order that requires an individual to explain the source of their assets. Mike Farnworth, the province’s minister of public safety and solicitor general, stated that QuadrigaCX, once the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Canada, became bankrupt after the death of co-founder Gerald Cotten, who took the private keys to the exchange’s offline storage systems with him. Documents submitted to the British Columbia Supreme Court allege that the assets in the safe deposit box are the proceeds of criminal activities involving Michael Patryn, another co-founder of Quadriga Coin Exchange, and Cotten. The order resulted in the seizure of the safe deposit box and an account at CIBC Bank. The box contained cash amounting to $184,250, gold bars, high-end watches, and other jewelry items. The order also revealed the presence of a pistol and identity documents bearing the names Omar Dhanani and Omar Patryn. The order claims that Patryn played a significant role in misappropriating customer funds and cryptocurrency, providing grounds for the asset seizure. The next step following the seizure is to require a response from Patryn to account for his wealth. Since QuadrigaCX’s collapse, Patryn has ventured into decentralized finance under the alias “Sifu,” participating in protocols like Wonderland and UwU Lend. He has a history of convictions for financial crimes in the United States.