Vilhelm German’s legal position has strengthened after Lithuanian prosecutors dropped money laundering and bribery suspicions against him, while a separate €23 million cryptocurrency mining case was sent back for procedural corrections.
The decision to end the investigation into the two allegations followed a finding that the available evidence was insufficient and that further opportunities to gather evidence had been exhausted.
The suspicions were terminated under Articles 216(1) and 227(3) of Lithuania’s Criminal Code, relating to money laundering and bribery. German was never indicted over either allegation, and the decision formally closes those suspicions against him. It does not, however, bring the wider Foxpay investigation to an end.
The broader inquiry has included allegations that at least €17 million was laundered between 2023 and 2024, together with claims involving approximately €100,000 in bribes. Seven people were identified as suspects in April 2026.
German has also secured a procedural ruling in a separate case involving cryptocurrency mining equipment. On 16 September, Vilnius City District Court returned the proceedings to the Prosecutor General’s Office after upholding objections raised by German and his defence team.
The court identified two shortcomings that must be addressed before the case can continue. Most of the case documents had been translated into Lithuanian using eTranslation, an automated service operated by the European Commission. The court found that Lithuanian criminal procedure does not allow criminal case materials to be translated into the state language in that way, making the translations improper.
It also found that important witnesses had not been questioned during the pre-trial investigation. Prosecutors could not transfer that responsibility to the courts, the ruling determined.
German’s defence had previously challenged both the clarity of the suspicions and the readability of the translated documents. The court’s decision upheld the substance of those objections and gave prosecutors six months to correct the deficiencies before submitting the case again.
The cryptocurrency mining proceedings were separated from the wider Foxpay investigation in December 2025. They concern allegations that German and three other people fraudulently obtained mining equipment worth more than €23 million.
Prosecutors filed the indictment in April 2026. German has consistently denied any wrongdoing, describing the allegations as a commercial dispute that is already subject to arbitration. He has said he intends to prove his innocence in court.
All four defendants remain presumed innocent. The decision to return the case is not an acquittal, but it requires prosecutors to repair the procedural problems before proceedings can resume. The separate termination of the money laundering and bribery suspicions removes those two allegations from the case against German, while leaving prosecutors responsible for resolving the issues in the mining proceedings.
