Vladimir Smerkis, the former head of Binance's Russian division, has been arrested in Russia on allegations related to a large-scale criminal fraud case, according to local media TASS. Smerkis worked at Binance for nearly two years from 2022 and later co-founded the trading app Blum in December 2023. Following his arrest, Blum announced on X that Smerkis was no longer involved with the project. The Zamoskvoretsky District Court granted an investigator's request for his detention, but specific details regarding the fraud case have not been disclosed. Binance has not responded to requests for comment regarding this incident, which casts a shadow on its former leadership in the region. Smerkis was also a managing partner in several other ventures before his involvement with Blum.

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