New York – Irina Dilkinska, the former head of compliance for the fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme OneCoin, pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of wire fraud and money laundering in a Manhattan federal court.
Keypoints
- Irina Dilkinska, former head of compliance at OneCoin, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges in a Manhattan federal court.
- Despite her role, Dilkinska actively participated in transferring $110 million of illicit profits to the Cayman Islands.
- OneCoin was a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme that defrauded investors out of $4 billion between 2014-2016.
- The founder, Ruja Ignatova, known as the “Crypto Queen”, remains at large after disappearing in 2017. There is a $100,000 reward for information leading to her arrest.
- Karl Sebastian Greenwood, Ignatova’s partner, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $300 million in restitution.
- Dilkinska faces up to 5 years in prison for each charge when she is sentenced in February 2024.
- OneCoin generated over $4 billion in revenue and $3 billion in profits during its operation by duping millions of investors worldwide through its pyramid scheme structure.
- Multiple governments stepped in to shut down OneCoin’s operations after victims reported it was a scam.
Dilkinska admitted to actively participating in transferring $110 million of profits from the OneCoin pyramid scheme to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands. This is despite her official role as the head of legal and compliance for OneCoin.
OneCoin duped millions of investors worldwide out of over $4 billion between 2014-2016 by promoting itself as a lucrative cryptocurrency investment. However, the company operated as a pyramid scheme with no real blockchain or coin behind it.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, stated “As OneCoin’s so-called ‘Head of Legal and Compliance,’ Irina Dilkinska accomplished the exact opposite goal of her position.”
“Head of Legal and Compliance” for multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency pyramid scheme “OneCoin” pleads guiltyhttps://t.co/E656236UXh
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) November 9, 2023
Dilkinska now faces up to 5 years in prison for each charge when she is sentenced in February 2024. This marks the latest conviction in the ongoing OneCoin case as authorities continue to seek justice for the victims.
The founder of OneCoin, Ruja Ignatova, also known as the “Crypto Queen,” vanished in October 2017 shortly before being charged with fraud and money laundering by U.S. authorities. Ignatova remains a fugitive, with her whereabouts still unknown.
Media reports in 2022 claimed Ignatova may have been assassinated off the coast of Greece by a Bulgarian drug lord also involved with OneCoin. However, the claims lack substantiation due to questionable evidence.
Ignatova’s partner, Karl Sebastian Greenwood, has already been sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $300 million in restitution for his role in masterminding the OneCoin scam.
This case serves as a reminder that investors should be wary of promised crypto investment returns that seem too good to be true. Regulators continue to crack down on fraudulent schemes in the cryptocurrency space.
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