The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York unsealed an indictment against Luxembourg citizen Frank Schneider, linked to the OneCoin cryptocurrency pyramid.
On December 5, the corresponding request was filed by Prosecutor Damian Williams. It concerns a sealed document from September 2020.
According to the indictment, Schneider was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. Authorities say OneCoin participants duped people worldwide, including in the Southern District of New York, into investing in the pyramid.
“Schneider helped run the international fraudulent scheme, […], among other things managing the proceeds of the scheme and evading investigations,” the document states.
In 2021, he was arrested in the French town of Oden-le-Tish on the basis of an international warrant issued by a New York court. It was reported then that, as a OneCoin partner, Schneider enlisted the law firm Carter-Ruck and the reputation-management company Chelgate to pressure the FCA.
Subsequently, the regulator removed a OneCoin warning from its website which its representatives used for PR.
In June 2022, Schneider, under house arrest in Judreville (France), gave an interview to Luxembourg’s radio 100.7. He said that he would prefer to stand trial in his country, where he faces up to five years in prison. If extradited to the United States, the OneCoin partner could face up to 40 years in prison.
Earlier, a court in Britain rejected the bid to block his extradition to the United States in the OneCoin case. Another defendant—Robert McDonald—avoided extradition.
In autumn in Germany, a hearing took place with three of the pyramid’s partners. Prosecutors filed charges against them of money laundering, fraud and banking offences.
In spring 2022, Europol added OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova to the list of the most wanted criminals and offered a reward of up to €5,000 for information about her. Later she appeared on a similar FBI list.
Read ForkLog’s bitcoin news on our Telegram — cryptocurrency news, prices and analysis.