OneCoin co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood has been sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined $300 million. According to the сообщает прокуратура США по Южному округу Нью-Йорка.
Greenwood is accused of defrauding 3.5 million people and misappropriating more than $300 million to five-star resorts, villas, a private jet and a yacht. Earlier he pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering.
The fraudulent scheme, masterminded by Bulgarian citizen Ruja Ignatova together with Greenwood, operated from 2014 to 2016. OneCoin was pitched as a high-yield cryptocurrency, with investors earning returns not only from asset appreciation 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.
Earlier in November 2019, a U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York found OneCoin lawyer Mark Scott guilty of laundering nearly $400 million.
In spring 2019, Konstantin Ignatov, brother of the pyramid’s founder, was detained at Los Angeles International Airport. He subsequently pleaded guilty to several counts.
In February 2023, journalists reported the murder of Ruja Ignatova, who was on Europol’s and the FBI’s lists of most-wanted criminals.
Later, U.S. federal prosecutors indicted the former head of OneCoin’s legal and compliance department, Irina Dilkinskaya, on charges of fraud and conspiracy to launder funds. She faces up to 40 years in prison.