Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Absolution began examining the operations of the crypto service Trustee Plus, operated by the Lithuanian Trustee Global UAB. The impetus came from user appeals reporting account freezes and protracted correspondence with support. Before examining these cases in detail, the authors decided to clarify who owns the service and which companies stand behind its operation.
One of the key representatives of the Trustee brand is Vadym Volodymyrovych Grusha, 1985 year of birth, a native of Vinnytsia. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Trustee. Co-founder and chief technical officer of the service is Kseniya Zhitomyrska. In one interview she described Grusha as the majority owner and herself as the minority owner. This is reported by the Telegram channel “Absolution Leaks.”
The brand’s legal structure spans several countries. The non-custodial crypto wallet Trustee Wallet in app stores is represented by BlockSoftLab Inc, registered in Delaware. Information about its owners is not disclosed in the public domain.
The custodial service Trustee Plus, within which the company effectively handles clients’ assets, is serviced by Lithuanian UAB Trustee Global.
The company was registered 14 June 2022 year with a statutory capital of 125 thousand euros. Its director is Vadym Grusha. In February 2025 year, the company’s legal address was moved from Vilnius to Šiauliai.
According to Lithuanian registers, Trustee Global has a single shareholder — a foreign individual whose name is not listed in the public portion of the register. Only two insured employees are indicated as well. At the same time, the company’s turnover for 2024 year was 2,79 million euros, and its year-end assets approached 10 million euros.
In Ukraine, there is also a registered LLC “Trust Global” from Vinnytsia, with a EDPRPOU code 45058862. Its director is Vadym Grusha, who owns 75% of the company. The remainder of the stake is registered to Dmytro Ivanovych Kalashnikov.
Trustee Global fell under Polish sanctions.
21 May 2026 year, the Polish Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration, on the proposal of the Internal Security Agency ABW, included UAB Trustee Global in the national sanctions list.
The company was subjected to freezing of financial assets and economic resources, prohibition on directly or indirectly providing it with funds or other economic resources, and exclusion from participation in public procurement.
In justification of the decision, the Polish side refers, in particular, to information from Moldova’s Intelligence and Security Service. According to these data, Russian special services, via individuals connected with pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor, used the Trustee app as a channel to finance political activity connected with Shor’s party.
In UAB Trustee Global’s document, the company is also named as having business ties with the RF. Some materials on which the Polish authorities based their decision are restricted.
Connection with Quicko
The sanctions materials also mention the Polish company Quicko, which cooperated with Trustee Global in the card payments sphere. Polish authorities also added it and the Russian LLC “Kviko” to the sanctions list.
On the same day, the Polish company Quicko, which owns 90% of the Russian LLC “Kviko,” was also sanctioned. Quicko acted as Trustee’s payment partner.
Recoveris analysts, in turn, stated that exchange operations in Trustee Wallet were integrated with intermediaries outside the European Union. Among them, they mentioned the Kassa.cc service, which was characterized as a possible channel of interaction with the Russian banking system.
What Trustee Responds
Trustee denies the accusations.
In a statement signed by Vadym Grusha, the company emphasized that its apps are not available in the Russian Federation, Trustee does not operate on the Russian market, and does not cooperate with banks under sanctions.
The company also stated that Trustee Wallet was never integrated with Quicko. The authors of the material present this position alongside the Polish side’s assertions and await additional responses from the service’s representatives.
NBU previously banned part of Trustee’s services in Ukraine
Questions about Trustee’s operations also arose in Ukraine.
In September 2025 year the National Bank of Ukraine forbade Trustee Global UAB from providing to Ukrainian citizens a number of financial payment services without an appropriate license.
Specifically, the decision concerned P2P transfers through the TRUSTEE PLUS app without opening an account and euro transfers. The NBU decision envisaged exactly banning such services on Ukrainian territory.
In light of sanctions and regulatory decisions, questions remain that the material’s authors expect answers to from Vadym Grusha: who is the sole shareholder of Lithuanian Trustee Global; how does the company explain the Polish ABW’s conclusions about the app’s use in operations related to Shor’s network; whether it plans to appeal the sanctions; and where user funds are currently stored after termination of cooperation with the card partner and the introduction of restrictions.
As a reminder, it was previously reported that the European Commission proposed tightening controls in the crypto-asset sphere within a new sanctions package against Russia. Among possible measures were also restrictions on providing related services by companies from third countries.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Trustee Plus під санкціями Польщі: що відомо про власників і зв’язки з рф". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: NARDEP 24.
