The legal and regulatory storm surrounding Lithuanian fintech start-up Bankera has intensified, exposing a tangled web of offshore banking, questionable fund movements, and investor betrayal. Following revelations by the OCCRP and Lithuanian outlet 15min, authorities in both Lithuania and Vanuatu are now moving sharply against the company’s founders, whose financial activities from 2018 have resurfaced with serious consequences. As investigators track millions in diverted cryptocurrency proceeds and courts deliberate the future of a now-embattled Pacific bank, the Bankera saga is rapidly becoming one of the most significant financial scandals linked to Europe’s early crypto boom.

Bankera entered the digital finance scene with bold promises. Founded by Lithuanian businessmen Mantas Mockevičius, Vytautas Karalevičius, and Justas Dobiliauskas, it sought to build a blockchain-based banking ecosystem. In 2018, during one of the peak moments of cryptocurrency fundraising mania, the trio launched an ICO (initial coin offering) using the Bankera token, BNK. Investors eager for the next big crypto success poured money into the project, helping the founders raise over €100 million in just six months – an enormous sum for a Baltic start-up still developing its core technology.

Yet........

© Blitz