A former boyfriend of Ruja Ignatova, the mastermind of the Ponzi scheme Onecoin, has obtained 5 years in jail. The sentence is for the laundering of lots of of tens of millions of {dollars}’ value of proceeds from the infamous crypto rip-off which defrauded buyers world wide.
Ruja’s Former Boyfriend Sentenced for Cash Laundering Linked to Onecoin
Gilbert Armenta, the ex-boyfriend of crypto pyramid Onecoin’s founder Ruja Ignatova, has been sentenced in the USA, Bloomberg Legislation reported. In keeping with court docket paperwork, he helped launder $300 million of proceeds from one of many largest Ponzi schemes in crypto historical past.
In 2018, Armenta, now 59, pleaded responsible to conspiring to commit wire fraud, cash laundering and extortion, all in reference to Onecoin. He cooperated with prosecutors within the investigation into the rip-off for about two years however later dedicated different crimes, violating the settlement.
Based in 2014, Onecoin operated as a worldwide multi-level-marketing community, which was based mostly on a cryptocurrency that by no means actually existed as such, regardless of being marketed because the ‘Bitcoin killer.’ In keeping with Onecoin’s personal paperwork, greater than 3 million individuals invested over $4 billion in Onecoin since 2016.
Bulgarian-born German nationwide Ruja Ignatova disappeared in October 2017, when she boarded a Ryanair flight in Sofia sure for Athens. Nonetheless, at giant, she is needed by Interpol, Europol, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Her brother and co-founder, Konstantin, who was detained in Los Angeles in 2019, pleaded responsible to prices associated to Onecoin and sought witness safety within the U.S. In December 2022, one other co-founder, British and Swedish citizen Karl Sebastian Greenwood, additionally pleaded responsible to his half within the rip-off.
Crypto Pyramid Mastermind Ruja Ignatova Nonetheless Lacking
Details about Ignatova’s whereabouts and actions has periodically surfaced in media experiences. Final July, the main Greek each day Kathimerini unveiled that the Hellenic Police had tried to find and arrest her, appearing on intelligence indicating she was within the nation and holding conferences with unidentified individuals.
In January of this 12 months, British media uncovered {that a} $15-million condominium purchased by the “lacking Cryptoqueen” by means of an organization based mostly on the island of Guernsey had been supplied on the market. A BBC report on the matter revealed that the Kensington penthouse had been listed with the approval of authorities in Germany.
Prosecutors within the metropolis of Bielefeld have accused a German lawyer who labored for Ignatova, Martin Breidenbach, of cash laundering for the switch of €20 million (over $21 million) for the acquisition of the four-bedroom condominium. In October, he appeared in court docket, together with two Onecoin associates, to face prices of fraud and different crimes.
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