United States federal prosecutors have charged a former executive of the OneCoin fraud cryptocurrency scheme for his role in the operation, who is now serving up to 40 years in prison after being extradited from Bulgaria.
On March 21, the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged OneCoin’s former head of legal and compliance Irina Dilkinska with one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, each carrying a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Dilkinska allegedly helped launder more than $400 million from OneCoin’s proceeds, and upon hearing the arrest of a co-conspirator destroyed incriminating evidence and sent incriminating messages.
Bulgarian woman charged for role in multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency pyramid scheme “OneCoin” and extradited from Bulgaria to United Stateshttps://t.co/XsY0rYJWeF
– SDNY US Attorney (@SDNYnews) March 21, 2023
US attorney Damian Williams pointed out the irony in Dilikinska’s project title given the nature of OneCoin, saying:
“Irina Dilkinska, who was supposed to be the Head of Legal and Compliance for the cryptocurrency pyramid scheme OneCoin, did the opposite of her project title and allegedly allowed OneCoin to launder millions of dollars in illegal proceeds through a shell company.”
The announcement said Dilkinska was extradited from Bulgaria on March 20 and was scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn the next day.
OneCoin was founded in 2014 by “cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova and Karl Sebastian Greenwood, the latter of whom pleaded guilty to various charges brought against him in December 2022 and faces up to 60 years in prison.
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However, Ignatova has managed to elude law enforcement agencies, disappearing in October 2017 after a flight to Greece just 15 days after a federal warrant was issued for her arrest.
In 2014, a woman named Ruja Ignatova launched a fake cryptocurrency named “OneCoin”. Although the currency never existed, Ruja convinced people around the world to invest. In 2017, after earning $4 billion, he flew to Greece and has not been seen since. pic.twitter.com/DoJCfmy0Uj
— Facts – Weird & Interesting (@info_dongeng) March 15, 2023
In June 2022, Ignatova was added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted List, and a $100,000 reward was offered for information leading to her arrest.
OneCoin was exposed as a scam back in 2015 but managed to generate over $4.3 billion in revenue, with a profit of nearly $3 billion, between Q4 2014 and Q4 2016 alone.
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