Crypto News – Karl Greenwood, the co-founder of the scam OneCoin cryptocurrency, was given a 20-year prison sentence on Tuesday. was a gigantic pyramid scheme that duped millions of investors worldwide out of more than $4 billion.
Fake OneCoin Co-Founder Cryptoqueen Still on the Run While Her Partner Karl Greenwood Gets 20 Years in Prison
In December, Karl Greenwood, the man behind the multibillion-dollar multilevel marketing scam, entered a guilty plea to counts of wire fraud and money laundering. According to the US Department of Justice, Ruja Ignatova, his 43-year-old partner and the Cryptoqueen on the FBI’s list of the Top 10 Most Wanted, is still at large. In a press statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams claimed that Greenwood “operated one of the largest fraud schemes ever perpetrated.”
We hope this lengthy sentence resonates in the financial sector and deters anyone who may be tempted to lie to investors and exploit the cryptocurrency ecosystem through fraud,
Williams
Greenwood apologized to the judge at the hearing by reading from a prepared statement.
The pain I caused others – the victims – I cannot take it back. I’m deeply sorry. I destroyed my life and caused irreparable harm to many others,
Greenwood
Methods of Greenwood and Cryptoqueen to Defraud People
According to the DOJ, OneCoin, which started in Bulgaria in 2014, received more than $4 billion from at least 3.5 million users between 2014 and 2016. A multilevel marketing system was used to promote and sell the plan, and it paid commissions to OneCoin members who brought in new crypto package buyers. DOJ said that Greenwood, the leading distributor, earned more than $300 million overall by receiving 5% of all OneCoin purchases.
OneCoin was regularly portrayed by Greenwood and Ignatova as the following cryptocurrency investment opportunity similar to Bitcoin. But unlike real cryptocurrencies, OneCoin had no intrinsic value and was designed from the start by Greenwood and Ignatova to be a hoax, according to the DOJ. Authorities said that the co-founders and others deceived investors on numerous occasions, including by representing OneCoin’s value as being determined by market forces when, in reality, its price was fixed arbitrarily.
As a founder and leader of OneCoin, Karl Sebastian Greenwood operated one of the largest fraud schemes ever perpetrated. Greenwood and his co-conspirators, including fugitive Ruja Ignatova, conned unsuspecting victims out of billions of dollars with promises of a ‘financial revolution’ and claims that OneCoin would be the ‘Bitcoin killer,’
Williams
Cryptoqueen has not been Caught for 6 Years
On the other hand, Ignatova was charged with fraud and money laundering in October 2017. She flew from Bulgaria to Athens, Greece, a few days after a federal arrest notice was issued for her.
Since the DOJ’s claim, she has not been spotted in the media. According to Ignatova’s entry on the FBI’s list of the Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, the agency is offering a reward of up to $250,000 for information that results in her capture. She is “believed to travel with armed guards and/or associates,” according to the wanted poster, and “may have had plastic surgery or otherwise altered her appearance.”
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