Karl Sebastian Greenwood, the co-founder of the multi-billion greenback fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme OneCoin has pleaded responsible to a number of expenses introduced ahead by america Division of Justice (DOJ) and faces a most of 60 years in jail.
The DOJ announced on Dec. 16 that Greenwood submitted a responsible plea in a Manhattan federal court docket to expenses of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and cash laundering conspiracy with every cost carrying a most potential sentence of 20 years in jail.
U.S. Legal professional Damian Williams stated Greenwood operated “one of many largest worldwide fraud schemes ever perpetrated” and claimed he touted OneCoin as a “Bitcoin killer” when in actuality the tokens had been “fully nugatory.”
OneCoin was a Bulgarian firm based by Greenwood alongside “Cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova that marketed a cryptocurrency by the identical identify. Emails obtained by the DOJ between the 2 earlier than its founding in 2014 allege the pair known as it a “trashy coin.”
Outwardly it claimed to be a multi-level advertising agency with members gaining commissions for promoting cryptocurrency packages apparently containing OneCoin and the power to mine extra. OneCoin might solely be exchanged for fiat forex on the non-public Xcoinx trade.
In actuality, it was each a pyramid and a Ponzi scheme as traders might recruit others into the scheme with out an precise product and later traders had been paid with the cash from earlier traders.
In keeping with the DOJ Greenwood was incomes round $21.2 million (€20 million) per thirty days in his position because the “world grasp distributor” of the fraudulent crypto agency. Over $4 billion is believed to have been swindled by OneCoin from the three million individuals who invested within the packages.
Ignatova was positioned on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s prime ten most wished record in June for her position within the scheme. She stays at massive and was final identified to have traveled to Athens, Greece in Oct. 2017.
Associated: Learn how to inform if a cryptocurrency undertaking is a Ponzi scheme
Williams stated Greenwood’s plea “sends a transparent message” the DOJ is “coming in any case those that search to take advantage of the cryptocurrency ecosystem by way of fraud, irrespective of how large or refined you might be.”
Greenwood is slated to be sentenced earlier than District Decide Edgardo Ramos on Apr. 5, 2023.
Authorities elsewhere have charged these concerned with OneCoin and Ignatova, with three associates going through expenses in Germany over fraud and cash laundering.
