BaFin has targeted a Palatinate offshoot of the alleged crypto scam OneCoin.
The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) is investigating the operator of the website onecoin-pfalz.de. The authority assumes that financial services are offered on the website without corresponding permission. In a corresponding consumer notice in the section “Unauthorized Business” explained BaFin on April 20 on its website:
In accordance with Section 37 (4) of the German Banking Act (KWG) and Section 8 (7) of the Payment Services Supervision Act (ZAG), BaFin clarifies that the operator of the website onecoin-pfalz.de does not have permission under the KWG or the ZAG to conduct banking transactions, provide financial services or Has payment services. The operator is not subject to the supervision of BaFin. The content of the website justifies the assumption that the operator offers unauthorized banking or financial services or payment services in Germany.
OneCoin – wasn’t there something?
Anyone who has followed the crypto space in recent years should be familiar with OneCoin. The system, founded in 2014, is considered to be one of the largest suspected crypto scams in history. The project around the Bulgarian “Cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova is said to have stolen up to 4 billion US dollars from investors worldwide. Ignatova went into hiding in 2017, her brother Konstantin Ignatov has been on trial in the USA since the end of 2019 because of his work on the project. He has pleaded guilty to several counts, including money laundering and fraud. As part of a plea deal, Ignatov assured the law enforcement authorities of his cooperation. A verdict is expected in May 2021.
The BaFin report on OneCoin-Pfalz.de also refers to earlier measures taken by the authority against OneCoin projects. In April 2017, the Bafin prohibited the companies OneCoin Ltd (Dubai) and OneLife Network Ltd (Belize) from doing business with “OneCoins” in Germany.
It is still unclear whether there is a direct connection between onecoin-Pfalz.de and Ignatov’s OneCoin project. Since the website advertises not only with the OneCoin brand, but also with the alleged expertise of the missing founder, it is not surprising that the alarm bells rang at BaFin.