Cryptoqueen’s Brother Freed After 3 Years in OneCoin Scheme: Report
Ruja's “cryptocoin” brother Ignatova has been released from prison after spending 34 months in prison in OneCoin's infamous $4.4 billion fraud scheme.
Konstantin Ignatov – once the “defacto leader” of OneCoin sha – was given a “temporary” sentence by District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos in March. 5, as reported by Bloomberg.
A “time served” sentence refers to when a court deems a defendant has spent enough time in prison while awaiting another sentencing hearing.
According to a March 5 Law360 report, “Emotional” Ignatov took full responsibility for his actions at the hearing.
“I can only blame myself […] You still have trouble looking into my own eyes in the mirror. The past five years have been some of the most painful times in my life, but I'm happy with the lessons I've learned.
Ignatov, however, was ordered to spend the next two years under court supervision and to hand over $118,000 of the money he made while operating OneCoin.
Ignatov He was arrested in 2019 and pleaded guilty to money laundering and wire fraud.
Igantov's late conviction comes after he cooperated with the US Attorney's Office against former lawyer Mark Scott, who was accused of embezzling $400 million from the OneCoin scheme. Scott was sentenced on January 25, 2024 to 10 years in prison.
At the hearing, Ramos described the OneCoin scheme as “a massive scam with hundreds of thousands of victims,” but Ignatov thanked Scott for cooperating with prosecutors at trial.
Related: Cryptoqueen's OneCoin Legal Head Pleads Guilty to Fraud
Prosecutors said Ignatov became the leader of the OneCoin scam after his sister first disappeared in 2017.
Ignatova's whereabouts are unknown and she is currently on the FBI's “Ten Most Wanted” list. She has been charged in absentia by US authorities with wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.
Carl Sebastian Greenwood, one of the promoters of OneCoin, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for fraud and money laundering.
OneCoin was a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme based in Bulgaria that raised $4.4 billion between 2014 and 2018. It promises investors higher profits, guaranteed returns and markets itself as the “Bitcoin killer” to become victims.
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