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, 45 gold bars, and luxury items discovered in a safe deposit box connected to one of QuadrigaCX’s co-founders, a cryptocurrency exchange. An unexplained wealth order is a court order that requires individuals to clarify how they acquired their assets. QuadrigaCX, which was once Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, became insolvent in 2019 following the death of co-founder Gerald Cotten, who took the private keys to the exchange’s offline storage systems with him. The seized assets are believed to be the proceeds of criminal activities involving Michael Patryn, the co-founder of Quadriga Coin Exchange, and Gerald Cotten. The order led to the confiscation of a safe deposit box at CIBC Bank and an account. Inside the box were CAD 250,200 ($184,250) in cash, gold bars, luxury watches, and jewelry. The box also contained a firearm and identification documents under the names Omar Dhanani and Omar Patryn. The order alleges that Patryn was involved in misappropriating customer funds and cryptocurrency, justifying the asset seizure. Patryn, who now operates under the alias “Sifu” and has a history of financial crimes, will be required to account for his wealth in response to the seizure.