British Columbia Seizes $1M in Cash and Gold Linked to QuadrigaCX Co-Founder

British Columbia has secured a landmark victory under its unexplained wealth order (UWO) regime, after the province successfully seized more than $1 million in cash, gold and luxury items tied to QuadrigaCX co-founder Michael Patryn.

Key Takeaways:

• B.C. seized over $1M in cash, gold and luxury items tied to QuadrigaCX co-founder Michael Patryn.
• Police found 45 gold bars, high-end watches and a loaded pistol in Patryn’s safety deposit box.
• Authorities allege the assets came from misappropriated QuadrigaCX customer funds.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia granted the forfeiture after Patryn chose not to contest the action, clearing the way for authorities to liquidate 45 gold bars, multiple high-end watches and roughly $250,000 in cash originally seized during an RCMP investigation.

The order marks one of the most significant applications of the province’s new anti–money laundering tools.

Gold Bars, Rolexes and a .45 Pistol Found in Patryn’s Safety Deposit Box

Court filings show the seized items were discovered in a CIBC safety deposit box in Vancouver in 2021, including three one-kilogram gold bars and 42 smaller bars.

Officers also recovered Rolex and Chanel watches, rings, jewelry, identification documents, and even a Ruger 1911 .45-caliber pistol with loaded magazines.

At current prices, the gold alone is valued at more than $800,000.

The civil forfeiture office alleged the assets were purchased using QuadrigaCX customer funds, money that investigators say was misappropriated during the years leading up to the exchange’s infamous collapse.

The unexplained wealth order required Patryn to demonstrate legitimate sources for the assets, but while he initially challenged the investigation on constitutional grounds, he ultimately withdrew his response and did not appear when the province sought judgment.

QuadrigaCX, once Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, imploded in 2019 after CEO Gerald Cotten died in India and it emerged that more than $169 million in customer assets were missing.

Regulators later concluded that the platform had effectively become a Ponzi scheme by 2016, with new deposits used to fulfill withdrawal requests while Cotten allegedly siphoned funds to finance personal expenses.

Patryn’s Criminal Past Resurfaces in QuadrigaCX Forfeiture Case

Investigators have long alleged that Patryn, also known by several aliases including Omar Dhanani, played a central role in the exchange’s operations and benefited from client funds.

His criminal history was cited in the forfeiture filings. In 2005, under the name Omar Dhanani, he was convicted in the US for operating an online identity-theft and money-laundering service and later deported to Canada.

The province’s win now triggers a separate review to determine whether any of the recovered assets can be directed to compensate QuadrigaCX creditors.

Claimants received just 13 cents on the dollar when bankruptcy proceedings concluded in May 2023.

Patryn’s current whereabouts remain uncertain, though the civil forfeiture suit lists his last known location as Thailand.

In 2023, QuadrigaCX announced plans to start the “interim distribution” of funds to creditors, despite only a fraction of the missing funds being recovered.