Alleged Leader of OneCoin Ponzi Has Sentencing for Money Laundering Adjourned
One of the key figures alleged to be behind the massive crypto fraud OneCoin has again had his sentencing control date adjourned.
- Konstantin Ignatov was expected to be sentenced on Wednesday.
- Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss asked for the date to be moved by four months because Ignatov’s cooperation with prosecutors is still in progress, according to a court filing dated July 7.
- It appears the request has been granted, as Judge Edgardo Ramos at the District Court of the Southern District of New York is now presiding over a different case on the same time slot, Inner City Press pointed out.
- No official court order has yet been filed on the matter.
- Four sealed documents were filed last month, on June 16, relating to Ignatov and the OneCoin Ponzi scheme.
- Ignatov was arrested by U.S. prosecutors in New York in March 2019 for his high-level involvement in the Ponzi scheme which is said to have stolen billions of dollars stolen from investors.
- He is accused by U.S. prosecutors of acting as the personal assistant to Ruja Ignatova, OneCoin’s top leader who is currently on the run from law enforcement. He is also her brother.
- Konstantin has already had his sentencing adjourned from April 8, again to allow his cooperation to be completed.
- He faces 90 years in prison, even after a plea deal on multiple counts of money laundering.
- A jury convicted OneCoin’s Lawyer Mark Scott on charges of fraud in November 2019 after it was revealed he laundered $400 million for the scheme.
- Konstantin’s testimony played a key role in the conviction.
- Last Friday, a Singapore man was fined $72K after he was found guilty for promoting OneCoin based on the country’s Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Selling (Prohibition) Act, 2000.
Disclosure
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.