OneCoin is a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme conducted by offshore companies OneCoin Ltd, based in Bulgaria and registered in Dubai, and OneLife Network Ltd (registered in Belize), both founded by Ruja Ignatova in concert with Sebastian Greenwood.
OneCoin is considered a Ponzi scheme due to its organisational structure of paying early investors using money obtained from newer ones.
Karl Sebastian Greenwood pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering connected to the fraudulent OneCoin scheme, the Department of Justice announced.
Greenwood co-founded OneCoin along with so-called “Crypto Queen”-turned-fugitive Ruja Ignatova in 2014, after which the two perpetrated a multibillion-dollar global scam.
“Greenwood and his co-conspirators, including fugitive Ruja Ignatova, conned unsuspecting victims out of billions of dollars, claiming that OneCoin would be the ‘Bitcoin killer.’
In fact, OneCoins were entirely worthless,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
Emails between Ignatova and Greenwood suggest a ploy to take advantage of investors.
As they corresponded, the two plotted to simulate volatility and fix exchange prices.
An estimate suggests victims invested over $4 billion in funds.
Ignatova, who remains on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s top 10 most wanted list, is still at large.
How many addtional scam coins do we have now?
As of 7 years after this ponzi scheme of $4 billion, we still may have many scams of coins and NFTs.
It is highly required to see if we just see the positive side of some project or protocols. I believe that we may see many scams some years or months later with some sort of new coin boom.
Source: The Block