Crypto investors lost more than US$4 billion in the global OneCoin fraud, and U.S. authorities say they’ve recovered about US$40 million, which they’re now seeking to return to victims of the scheme.
According to U.S. authorities, the operators of Bulgaria-based OneCoin Ltd., Ruja Ignatova and Karl Sebastian Greenwood, sold a fraudulent crypto asset through a multi-level marketing scheme that took in billions from investors around the world between 2014 and 2019.
In 2023, Greenwood was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay US$300 million in restitution after he was convicted of fraud charges for his role in the scheme. Ignatova, who was known as the “Cryptoqueen,” has also been charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy, but remains a fugitive.
Now, the U.S. Department of Justice has begun a process to return the US$40 million that it has recovered from criminal forfeiture proceedings pursued by the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York to victims of the scheme.
Under the process, which is being run by Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, investors that purchased OneCoin crypto between 2014 and 2019 and experienced a net loss of their investments may be eligible to receive compensation.
Victims will now have until June 30 to file claims for compensation through a dedicated website, onecoinremission.com.
“The victim losses accrued in this case are monumental,” said James Barnacle Jr., assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, in a release Monday. “Misled by falsified statements and empty promises, many unknowingly depleted their savings for a fraudulent investment scheme in an emerging financial ecosystem that would never pay out.”
The FBI’s pursuit of Ignatova — who remains on the agency’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List” — continues, he added.