Bankera Founders Linked to ICO Scandal: Funds Misused for Luxury Buys

The founders of Bankera, a Lithuanian crypto-fintech firm, faced severe allegations regarding the misuse of funds collected through their 2018 initial coin offering (ICO), after a recent probe was conducted.
According to a report According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), almost half of the €100 million ($114 million) collected was diverted towards covertly purchasing Pacific Private Bank, a minor bank located in Vanuatu.
With ownership of the bank, the founders—Vytautas Karalevičius, Justas Dobiliauskas, and Mantas Mockevičius—are said to have obtained unrestricted access to the ICO funds. It is alleged that they issued substantial, unsecured loans to firms they secretly owned or managed.
Rather than backing Bankera’s initiatives in blockchain banking, these resources were supposedly frittered away on opulent property acquisitions and premium investment opportunities.
Entrepreneurs spark debate with their lavish acquisitions.
Internal documents and banking records acquired by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) expose the concerning journey of how Bankera’s creators utilized the €100 million gathered from their initial coin offering (ICO). The tokens were marketed as utility tokens but were subsequently claimed to represent securities.
The majority of the money was covertly transferred to Pacific Private Bank in Vanuatu, a banking entity they discreetly purchased. Subsequently, several million euros were lent to firms under their control and directed into their personal accounts.
The cash was laundered via upscale properties and high-end facilities across multiple nations.
One of the most notable acquisitions was a €2.5 million luxurious villa on the French Riviera, as revealed by OCCRP research. This estate, located close to the prestigious French Riviera destination of Saint-Tropez, features a private swimming pool, panoramic sea vistas, and modern architecture—evidently catering to the tastes of the upper-class society.
In their homeland of Lithuania, the founders supposedly acquired multiple high-end apartments and business properties through shell corporations. A property in Vilnius worth more than €1 million underwent renovation and was rented to technology start-ups and trendy retail stores. Nonetheless, the income produced seemed to advantage the proprietors personally instead of getting reinvested to aid Bankera’s token holders.
The inquiry likewise revealed loans tied to the acquisition of a grand villa in Switzerland and substantial investments in a luxurious real estate project in the United Arab Emirates, underscoring the international scope of the founders' expenditures. It was noted that extra money was utilized to amass a collection of top-tier performance sports vehicles owned by related enterprises.
Despite extensive documentation of these acquisitions, lawyers representing Vytautas Karalevičius, Justas Doboliauskas, and Mantas Mockevičius have contested this matter. They assert that all monetary actions were carried out legally and aimed at advancing the development of the Bankera platform. Nonetheless, they did not attempt to address or refute the specific transactions and real estate dealings highlighted in the OCCRP report.
The absence of further information in the reply has only intensified doubts among skeptics. ICO investors, People who think that these excessive buys go against the project’s initial aim: to establish a decentralized, globally available monetary system designed for the demands of the blockchain age.
Investors voice discontent over unfulfilled commitments
Bankera had marketed itself as a “bank for the blockchain era,” pitching a full suite of services and weekly payments to investors who owned BNK tokens. But investors say these payments dwindled greatly over the years, with the revenue-sharing program terminating completely in 2022.
Furthermore, Bankera failed to obtain the promised European Union banking license. Currently, the fully diluted value of BNK tokens amounts to roughly $975,710, which aligns with the range of 912,430 to 3,080,000 tokens distributed during the initial coin offering (ICO).
Even with obstacles, Bankera keeps working on initiatives within the realm of cryptocurrency banking and stays visible on social media sites such as LinkedIn.
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