Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of the now defunct bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, has been re-arrested on charges of embezzlement.

According to local media reports, Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police served Karpeles with a new arrest warrant earlier today. Reports suggesting a re-arrest was a possibility first surfaced yesterday amid claims he had embezzled ¥321m ($2.6m) of customer deposits to fund other personal projects.

As previously reported by CoinDesk, Karpeles has been in custody for the past three weeks – the maximum time period suspects can be detained without being formally charged.

The new arrest warrant will mean Karpeles may now be held in custody for an additional 23 days.

He was first arrested at the beginning of August amid claims he had manipulated volumes on Mt Gox prior to its demise in February 2014.

Arrest image via Shutterstock