New confines in the world of cryptocurrencies. co-founder global cryptocurrency scam OneCoin Karl Sebastian Greenwood pleaded guilty to all charges before the United States Department of Justice. A Manhattan federal court has confirmed that the fraudster faces 60 years in prison for electronic fraud, electronic fraud conspiracy and money laundering charges. His partner known as ‘Cryptoreine’ Ruja Ignatova has been missing since 2017. and one of the ten most wanted by the FBI since the beginning of this year.
“As the founder and leader of OneCoin,” US Attorney General Damian Williams explained, “Karl Sebastian Greenwood ran one of the largest international fraud schemes ever committed.” Greenwood and Ignatova Raised more than $4,000 million worldwide since 2014, the date when they began commercializing a minable cryptocurrency that had no value because the blockchain did not exist. Following in the footsteps of a classic Ponzi scheme, the owners of the company provided OneCoin members with commissions for hiring other people to purchase alleged cryptocurrency packages.
Co-founder of billion-dollar cryptocurrency pyramid scheme “OneCoin” pleads guiltyhttps://t.co/bhXmhAfS2B
— US Attorney General SDNY (@SDNYnews) 16 December 2022
In the words of the federal prosecutor, “Greenwood and his collaborators, including fugitive Ruja Ignatova, defrauded innocent victims of billions of dollars by claiming that OneCoin would become the ‘bitcoin killer’.” Both partners earned a total of 21.2 million euros per month as a “global master seller” of counterfeit digital currency.
Greenwood was arrested in Thailand in July 2018 and extradited to the United States three months later.. Williams said in a statement that the OneCoin co-founder’s admission of guilt “sends a clear message” that U.S. justice is prosecuting “anyone who tries to exploit the cryptocurrency ecosystem through fraud.” US Department of Justice He is expected to be sentenced on April 5, 2023. Before District Judge Edgardo Ramos.
In search and capture since 2017
The Bulgarian Ignatova case has been complicated since the BBC’s OneCoin investigation, arousing the fascination of cryptocurrency followers and those who are not of this world. His disappearance begins in October 2017. Ignatova had scheduled a meeting in Lisbon with her company’s supporters, but she did not show up.. He then boarded a plane bound for Athens, according to police records, and his whereabouts have not been known since.
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During these five years, the police received numerous complaints and launched several investigations against him. Also in 2020, two cryptocurrency supporters were killed in Mazatlán (Mexico), and several of Ignatova’s colleagues received money laundering convictions in Singapore and the United States. His brother Konstantin was arrested in the United States in 2019 for supporting fraud. and signed an agreement with OneCoin investors to avoid up to 90 years in prison.
Theories about his whereabouts have been going on since 2017. Some believe he died a long time ago, others claim it is still undercover and ready to develop a new scam. The story of “cryptoreine” aroused so much passion that in May 2021 even a documentary “In a few words” was released about him.