OneCoin co-founder pleads guilty to fraud and money laundering

OneCoin co-founder Sebastian Greenwood pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering.

Co-founder of multi-billion-dollar cryptocurrency pyramid scheme “OneCoin” pleads guiltyhttps://t.co/bhXmhAfS2B

— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) December 16, 2022

Greenwood and his accomplices, including the fugitive Ruja Ignatova, duped unsuspecting victims out of billions of dollars, claiming that OneCoin would be the ‘Bitcoin killer’. In fact, the OneCoin coins were completely worthless,

In 2014, Ignatova and Greenwood founded OneCoin, which was initially marketed as a high-yield cryptocurrency. Under the project, investors earned profits not only from the asset’s growth but also from recruiting new participants.

Greenwood was arrested in 2018 in Thailand. Ignatova’s whereabouts have been unknown since 2017. The losses from OneCoin’s activities are estimated at $4 billion.

In spring 2019, Konstantin Ignatov, the founder’s brother, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport. He subsequently pleaded guilty to several counts. The U.S. government secured a postponement of Ignatov’s sentencing, stating that cooperation with him was not yet complete.

In November 2019, a court in the Southern District of New York found OneCoin attorney Mark Scott guilty of laundering nearly $400 million. Ignatova faced charges in the United States in absentia.

In August 2021, authorities in Italy accused 14 individuals, connected with OneCoin, of fraud with aggravating circumstances. According to the authorities, through local banks in favor of the pyramid, transactions totaling about €11 million were conducted.

In spring 2022, Europol added Ruja Ignatova to the list of the most wanted criminals and offered a reward of up to €5,000 for information about her.

Later, the founder of OneCoin was placed on a similar FBI list.

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