DOJ opens $40 million OneCoin victim claims after $4 billion global crypto fraud

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a $40 million fund of seized assets to compensate victims of the OneCoin cryptocurrency fraud scheme. Between 2014 and 2019, co-founders Ruja Ignatova and Karl Sebastian Greenwood, along with others, operated an international scheme that defrauded up to 3.4 million investors worldwide, who collectively lost over $4 billion. The Sofia, Bulgaria-based operation marketed a fraudulent crypto through a multi-level-marketing network, but it did not involve actual cryptocurrencies or exist on any blockchain. The DOJ described the scheme as one of the largest global fraud schemes in history, which collapsed in 2017. Greenwood pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in 2022, and the DOJ is continuing efforts to seize further criminal proceeds to return to victims.

(Source：CoinDesk)