Fugitive ex-boyfriend Ruja Ignatova (also known as Cryptoqueen) was sentenced to five years in prison for laundering $300 million in earnings from investors from a fake crypto venture, OneCoin.
Gilbert Armenta, who held several key positions in the OneCoin venture, was convicted of being active in a scheme that defrauded investors of millions of dollars.
He pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiring to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and extortion in relation to the OneCoin project.
Armenta helped prosecutors unravel the fraud over two years while committing additional crimes, forcing authorities to seek a longer prison sentence.
Cryptoqueen And Fake Digital Currency
In 2014, Ignatova, a Bulgarian citizen, launched OneCoin, a $4 billion multilevel marketing scam based on fake cryptocurrency.
OneCoin is marketed as a digital currency that will transform the financial industry, and promoters claim that it is backed by gold reserves and uses blockchain technology that is considered better than Bitcoin.
OneCoin supporters claim that the currency has a fixed supply of 120 billion coins and will be one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world.
Ruja Ignatova a.k.a. Cryptoqueen. Image: BBC
In addition, they guarantee substantial returns to investors who buy coins and advertise through a multi-level marketing plan in which participants earn commissions for recruiting new investors.
However, OneCoin was revealed to be a Ponzi scheme not backed by blockchain technology or real cryptocurrency.
Cryptoqueen’s Girlfriend Assisted in Money Laundering
Its founders raised billions of dollars from investors around the world. The fraud resulted in the loss of life savings of many investors.
Armenta’s conviction is the latest step in a long investigation into OneCoin, which has been described as one of the biggest and most sophisticated frauds in history.
Image: IRTIS
Armenta is accused of assisting Ignatova in money laundering and evading justice in connection with the fraudulent enterprise. The sentence comes as a relief to the millions of investors defrauded by the fraud, many of whom have yet to receive their money back.
Between its launch and 2016, OneCoin defrauded millions of people for about $4 billion. The founders of the company are asking investors to buy educational packages for trading digital assets at prices ranging from 100 to 118,000 euros.
Crypto total market cap at $1 trillion on the daily chart | Chart: TradingView.com
Cryptoqueen: One of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives
In 2017, Ignatova, who the BBC called “the woman who deceived the world,” was last seen in Athens, Greece. Some reports suggest that he may be hiding on a luxury yacht in the Mediterranean Sea with part of the stolen money.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) joined the search for Cryptoqueen by placing her on the list of “10 Most Wanted Fugitives.” Additionally, the agency is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to his location and arrest.
-Featured image from The Independent