- OneCoin's Irina Dilkinska received a four-year jail sentence for her role in the $4 billion cryptocurrency pyramid scheme.
- Investors must exercise caution as cryptocurrency scams thrive during bull seasons.
- Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s sentencing in US federal court on April 30 may affect BNB's price.
The head of legal and compliance for crypto pyramid scheme OneCoin was sentenced on Wednesday to four years in prison by US District Judge Edgardo Ramos, according to a press release by the US Department of Justice. With the bull season making waves in the crypto community, many have expressed concerns of similar scams that may abound in the space.
History of the OneCoin scam
Ruja Ignatova, dubbed “Cryptoqueen” established OneCoin in 2014 in Bulgaria, touting it to be the next big thing that would surpass Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at the time. Ruja traveled across several countries, convincing investors to invest their money by promising hefty returns. However, authorities later discovered in 2017 that the whole project was a scam, and its touted cryptocurrency was non-existent.
Ruja disappeared after the discovery, and she was last seen in a flight to Greece. During its operation, OneCoin and its executives defrauded about $4 billion from investors between Q4 2014 and Q4 2016, making it one of the largest cryptocurrency scams ever.
Several of OneCoin's executives were charged to court after the incidents. Ruja's brother, Konstantin Ignatova, received a 90-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to money laundering and fraud. Earlier this year, OneCoin's lawyer Mark Scott, who laundered $400 million for the scam project, received a sentence of 10 years in prison.
Read more: SBF sentenced to 25 years in prison after November conviction
Irina Dilkinska sentenced to four years in prison
Irina Dilkinska is the latest addition to OneCoin executives who have been sentenced. The press release announcing the sentence of Irina was made public by Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District. She was sentenced to four years for her role in the scheme by US District Judge Edgardo Ramos.
Dilkinska, who was head of legal and compliance for OneCoin, "assisted in running its day-to-day operations and laundered money for OneCoin," said the announcement. This included "arranging for the transfer of $110 million in fraudulently obtained OneCoin proceeds to a Cayman Islands entity," it further stated.
This follows the sentencing of Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison on March 28 for spearheading several scams that saw customers of the bankrupt exchange losing up to $8 billion.
Also read: Kucoin's BTC, ETH, and USDT reserves dip after charges from US DoJ and CFTC
In the same vein, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as "CZ”, will face sentencing on April 30 after pleading guilty to charges of not maintaining effective anti-money laundering (AML) procedures in Binance.US. As the date approaches, traders are keeping an eye on Binance Coin (BNB) and how it could react to the sentence. A filing in the case revealed that CZ could face up to 10 years in prison.
Consequently, crypto exchange Kucoin and its founders have also been charged by the US Department of Justice and the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission for failure to adhere to robust AML policies and breaching the Bank Secrecy Act.
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers. The author will not be held responsible for information that is found at the end of links posted on this page.
If not otherwise explicitly mentioned in the body of the article, at the time of writing, the author has no position in any stock mentioned in this article and no business relationship with any company mentioned. The author has not received compensation for writing this article, other than from FXStreet.
FXStreet and the author do not provide personalized recommendations. The author makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of this information. FXStreet and the author will not be liable for any errors, omissions or any losses, injuries or damages arising from this information and its display or use. Errors and omissions excepted.
The author and FXStreet are not registered investment advisors and nothing in this article is intended to be investment advice.
Recommended Content
Editors’ Picks
Bitcoin eases ahead of key Federal Reserve decision on interest rates
Bitcoin retraces slightly, trading above $59,000 on Wednesday, as crypto markets brace for the upcoming interest-rate decision by the US Federal Reserve (Fed), which is expected to lower interest rates for the first time in more than four years.
Why US citizens can’t participate in airdrops: Top house republicans ask SEC Chair Gary Gensler
Crypto market participants in the United States are excluded from airdrops for legal reasons. Airdrops occur when crypto projects distribute their tokens to holders in a free or discounted manner, sending them directly to their wallet address or inviting eligible users to claim these crypto assets.
DUSK price set for a rally after finding support around key level
Dusk (DUSK), a Layer 1 blockchain protocol that brings classic finance and real-world assets (RWA) on-chain, recovers initial weekly losses and recaptures the $0.210 level, up 5% in the day on Wednesday.
Binance addresses WazirX and Zettai accusations on the July hack
The WazirX team and Nischal Shetty continue to mislead customers about a $230 million hack in July, according to Binance. On Tuesday, crypto exchange Binance addressed “inaccurate and misleading statements” from Zettai and WazirX regarding Binance.
Bitcoin: On the road to $60,000
Bitcoin price retested and bounced off from the daily support level of $56,000 this week. US spot Bitcoin ETFs posted $140.7 million in inflows until Thursday and on-chain data supports a bullish outlook.
Moneta Markets review 2024: All you need to know
VERIFIED In this review, the FXStreet team provides an independent and thorough analysis based on direct testing and real experiences with Moneta Markets – an excellent broker for novice to intermediate forex traders who want to broaden their knowledge base.