As the world’s largest crypto scam, OneCoin has made inglorious history. Investors have lost around four billion US dollars through the fraud system. While the main mastermind, Ruja Ignatova, also known as “CryptoQueen”, is still being sought with an international arrest warrant, a British court has now ordered the extradition of a OneCoin money launderer to the USA.
The accused Christopher Hamilton is said to have laundered 105 million US dollars for OneCoin via the company Viola Asset Management. The funds were deposited by Gilbert Armenta, a Florida financier who is said to have been connected to Ignatova. The accounts were controlled by Hamilton, and the company’s compliance officer was co-defendant Robert McDonald. According to the indictment Hamilton and McDonald are also said to have stolen $32 million from Armenta.
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“Serious Cross-Border Crime”
Much of the damage was done to Britain, argued the defense, which wanted to avoid extradition to the US. According to Judge Rimmer, however, it is “serious cross-border crime” and the “interests of the victims of the OneCoin fraud” are global. According to this, “all victims, including those in the USA, have an interest in the further prosecution of those involved in the fraud”.
McDonald, who cares for his seriously ill wife, he is allowed to stay in Great Britain. Extradition would “unfairly violate his human right to respect for family life,” the court said.
The case will now be referred to the Secretary of State for a final decision. Hamilton can still appeal.
OneCoin: Heaven promised
OneCoin was a large-scale fraud scheme between 2014 and 2016 that made headlines around the world. Investors were promised cryptocurrencies that never existed. OneCoins were artificially created, prices manipulated. A blockchain never existed. Investors lost around four billion US dollars through the scam – the biggest crypto scam ever.
In 2017, OneCoin was broken up by authorities, and since then some of those responsible for the internationally branched fraud system have been arrested. But there is still no key figure: OneCoin face Ruja Ignatova. She was instrumental in founding the company in Bulgaria in 2014 and has not been seen since 2017. In June 2022, the FBI placed Ignatova on its top ten most wanted list.
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