{"id":128176,"date":"2025-04-29T06:17:34","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T06:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=128176"},"modified":"2025-04-29T06:17:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T06:17:34","slug":"bankera-founders-used-ico-funds-on-global-property-buys-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=128176","title":{"rendered":"Bankera founders used ICO funds on global property buys: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsThe founders of the crypto fintech firm Bankera used funds from the project\u2019s 2018 initial coin offering to purchase luxury properties worldwide, according to a report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.<br \/>\nThe OCCRP reported on April 28, citing leaked company records and bank statements, that nearly half of the funds from Bankera\u2019s 100 million euro ($114 million) ICO were transferred to a bank in the Pacific Island country of Vanuatu that was purchased by the project\u2019s founders, Vytautas Karalevi\u010dius, Justas Dobiliauskas and Mantas Mockevi\u010dius.<br \/>\nSoon after, the Vanuatu bank reportedly began issuing millions of euros in loans to companies owned by the trio to build a luxury real estate portfolio \u2014 including a villa in the French Riviera and high-end property in Lithuania, where the project was founded.<br \/>\nBankera\u2019s three founders. Source: BankeraThe leaked records and statements reportedly show that the funds were used to underwrite loans to other companies, which were then used to purchase high-end real estate.\u00a0<br \/>\nThe Vanuatu bank also loaned millions more directly to the three founders for \u201cpersonal use,\u201d according to the OCCRP report.<br \/>\nLawyers representing the founders reportedly denied that the ICO was fraudulent but declined to comment on specific transactions.\u00a0<br \/>\nCointelegraph contacted Bankera for comment but did not receive an immediate response.<br \/>\nBankera over-promised, under-delivered<br \/>\nBankera pledged to become the \u201cbank for the blockchain era,\u201d offering a suite of retail and institutional investment services while holding and exchanging most of the largest cryptocurrencies.<br \/>\nMany investors were attracted to the Bankera (BNK) token ICO by the promise of discounted rates on Bankera\u2019s services and products, along with the opportunity to earn weekly BNK payouts.<br \/>\nHowever, an investor in Bankera\u2019s ICO told the OCCRP that those weekly payouts began to \u201cdrop significantly below the promised amount.\u201d<br \/>\nThe revenue-sharing scheme was reportedly halted in 2022.<br \/>\nRelated: Tether scales crypto payments in Eastern Europe with new investment<br \/>\nBankera also reportedly promised to obtain a European Union banking license, which is yet to materialize.<br \/>\nDespite the 100 million euro ICO raise, the fully diluted value of the BNK token is currently at $975,710, CoinGecko data shows.<br \/>\nBankera continues to provide crypto-related banking services and maintains an active social media presence on LinkedIn and, to a lesser extent, X.<br \/>\nMagazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over \u2014 It\u2019s time to dream big again<a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/bankera-founders-use-ico-funds-property-buys-occrp?utm_source=rss_feed&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"feedzy-rss-link-icon\" rel=\"noopener\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsThe founders of the crypto fintech firm Bankera used funds from the project\u2019s 2018 initial coin offering to purchase luxury properties worldwide, according to a report by the&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128176"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}