Dismembered Body of U.S. Crypto Mogul Found in Bulgaria

The dismembered body of a murdered cryptocurrency mogul was reportedly found in Bulgaria's capital Sofia.

The remains of Christian Peev, 41, who held U.S. and Bulgarian citizenship, were found stuffed in a toilet by plumbers who had been called to clear a blocked drain, British newspaper The Mirror reported.

Peev had graduated from an American university and built his fortune through crypto investments. Investigators believe that he was killed between August 8 and August 9 and that the alleged killer was Vesco Valchinov, whom he had met around six years previously.

Reports of the circumstances of the killings have grisly details. Local media said that the alleged killer had murdered his victim with a dumbbell and cut up the body in the bathroom before flushing some pieces down the toilet.

Investigators found the crime scene after checking the two phones of Peev, whose brother had reported him missing on August 10. On the day he went missing, he had been in contact with Valchinov.

Camera footage established that the pair had entered the suspected killer's apartment block on August 8 and the next day, Valchinov exited the building alone.

Another man, Konstantin Subotinov, was arrested and told police he had helped the killer hide other parts of the victim's body by taking them by car to the Sofia district of Vitosha, where Valchinov was arrested.

Bulgarian media reported that Peev had helped Valchinov with crypto investments, suggesting that the killing had been motivated by money. Newsweek has contacted Bulgaria's Interior Ministry for further comment.

Peev is the second crypto king to be found dead in brutal circumstances within a month. Body parts of Fernando Pérez Algaba were found in a red suitcase dumped in Ingeniero Budge, Buenos Aires, on July 23 after going missing five days earlier.

Algaba highlighted an extravagant lifestyle funded by crypto investments on his Instagram account. The suitcase that was discovered contained Algaba's legs and at least one forearm. Argentine media reported that the body parts had been cleanly amputated, suggesting the work of a professional. An autopsy revealed that the victim had been shot three times before being dismembered.

In November 2022, the deaths of two major cryptocurrency CEOs in one week fueled conspiratorial claims of sinister links between their passing and that of other billionaires and multi-millionaires from the industry.

Tiantian Kullander and Vyacheslav Taran had fortunes estimated to be worth billions of dollars and their deaths came only a month after millionaire cryptocurrency developer Nikolai Mushegian, 29, drowned in Puerto Rico.

Update 08/16/23, 11:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information.