Guernsey Seizes $11.4M in OneCoin Fraud as Cryptoqueen’s Empire Crumbles
Guernsey has recovered over £8.5 million, or about $11.4 million, of cash related to the OneCoin fraud, which is among the most tangible monetary recoveries thus far linked with the case of fugitive founder Ruja Ignatova, additionally identified as the “Cryptoqueen.”
The ruling provides recent weight to worldwide efforts to dismantle what stays of OneCoin’s monetary footprint, even as its mastermind has been lacking for greater than eight years.
According to the report issued by the Guernsey Press, the Royal Court of Guernsey agreed to an abroad forfeiture order sought by German prosecutors in town of Bielefeld.
The resolution of the courtroom was that the cash in the title of Aquitaine Group Limited held in Guernsey in the account of RBS International, which amounted to £8.59 million plus gathered curiosity, was beneath the management of Ignatova and that it must be seized.
The cash is now in the Seized Asset Fund of Guernsey, the place it’s to be utilized primarily to recompense victims and support legislation enforcement.
How OneCoin’s Fake Crypto Trail Led to £8.8M in Seized Assets
Ignatova was a Bulgarian-born German citizen who established OneCoin in 2014 and marketed it to the world as a disruptive cryptocurrency and a killer of Bitcoin.
In apply, prosecutors subsequently confirmed that OneCoin didn’t even have an working blockchain or working mining process however was a multi-level advertising and marketing enterprise the place returns had been sponsored by extra deposits of recent traders.
OneCoin’s authorized chief pleaded responsible to cash laundering and wire fraud expenses, in accordance with a press release launched at this time from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.#CryptoNewshttps://t.co/zKdVwzCWse
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) November 9, 2023
The FBI estimates that traders worldwide misplaced greater than $4 billion, although some assessments place complete losses larger.
The Royal Court famous that Ignatova was given 28 days in November to object to the confiscation utility.
There was no reply since Ignatova had not appeared in public since October 2017, when she vanished days after a sealed arrest warrant was issued in the United States.
She was subsequently the one feminine ever to be listed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives listing, and authorities in the United States had been prepared to pay a reward of up to $5 million for information resulting in her arrest.
German prosecutors, working with Guernsey authorities, have been seeking to recover proceeds from the sale of two London residences beforehand owned by Ignatova by means of Guernsey-registered corporations.
The properties, a penthouse and a smaller residence, had been positioned beneath a Royal Court restraint order in November 2021 and later bought for greater than £11 million.
After charges and taxes, about £8.8 million remained as of May 2024, forming the majority of the confiscated sum.
OneCoin’s Inner Circle Faces Justice as Ignatova Mystery Drags On
This newest motion matches right into a broader sample of asset restoration and authorized fallout that has continued years after OneCoin’s collapse.
Several of Ignatova’s shut associates have been convicted and sentenced.
In 2023, co-founder Sebastian Greenwood was sentenced to twenty years in jail.
OneCoin Crypto Scam: German Court Sentences Fraudsters to Jail
Founders of the notorious OneCoin cryptocurrency rip-off have been sentenced to a number of years in jail by a German courtroom.#CryptoNews #newshttps://t.co/JZj5HWattJ
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) January 10, 2024
Other figures, together with senior legal and financial facilitators, have additionally been jailed.
At the identical time, questions on Ignatova’s destiny stay unresolved.
Investigative reporting, together with a 2023 and 2024 BBC investigation, has pointed to alleged hyperlinks between Ignatova and Bulgarian organized crime figures.
This determine contains Hristoforos Nikos Amanatidis, identified as “Taki,” who reportedly supplied safety throughout her escape.
There have been some indications that she was possibly murdered in 2018, maybe on a yacht in the Ionian Sea, however legislation enforcement has emphasised that no concrete proof has been offered.
This has made worldwide companies nonetheless deal with her as a fugitive who should still be alive.
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