Irina Dilkinska, a Bulgarian national, was sentenced to four years in prison and must also forfeit $111,440,000 in connection with her involvement in the OneCoin crypto-currency scam. In November 2023, she pleaded guilty to charges related to bank fraud and money laundering conspiracies.
The sentence was handed down by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York because of her involvement in the web3 OneCoin project and its digital currency of the same name. As the project's chief compliance and legal officer, Dilkinska facilitated money laundering and other financial crimes. In particular, she transferred $110 million in illicit profits from OneCoin to a company in the Cayman Islands.
"Irina Dilkinska's involvement in the massive OneCoin pyramid scheme was a flagrant transgression. Rather than obeying the law and fulfilling her role as Chief Compliance and Legal Officer, she facilitated and perpetrated money laundering, contributing to the exploitation of millions of victims," US attorney Damian Williams said in Wednesday's statement.
The project's records show that it attracted more than 3 million participants, making nearly $4.4 billion (€4.037 billion) in revenue between the end of 2014 and the end of 2016, according to the DOJ (Department of Justice) statement. In all, victims invested more than $4 billion in OneCoin.
In November 2023, Dilkinska admitted guilt on bank fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges related to her role at OneCoin, as previously reported by The Block. The DOJ alleges that OneCoin operated as a global pyramid scheme, a controversial business model where sellers earn commission on their sales and the recruitment of new participants.
OneCoin was founded by Ruja Ignatova, dubbed the "Queen of Crypto-Currencies", and Karl Sebastian Greenwood. Greenwood was sentenced to twenty years in prison and fined $300 million for his involvement in OneCoin after pleading guilty to bank fraud and money laundering.
Ruja Ignatova has been on the FBI's most wanted fugitives list since May 2022 and is presumed still at large.
