Irina Dilkinska, a Bulgarian national who held the position of “head of legal and compliance” at OneCoin, has been extradited to the United States to face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. According to U.S. Attorney Damien Williams, Dilkinska allegedly enabled OneCoin to launder millions of dollars of illegal proceeds through shell companies. The cryptocurrency pyramid scheme, which began in 2014, is said to have defrauded victims of over $4 billion.
OneCoin’s co-founders
OneCoin’s co-founder Ruja Ignatova, known as “the Cryptoqueen,” has been missing since October 2017. The Federal Bureau of Investigation added her to its Top Ten Most Wanted list in 2022 and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to her arrest. Meanwhile, the other co-founder, Karl Greenwood, pleaded guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering in December.
Also Read: FTX’s Nishad Singh Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges in US Investigation
The relevance of OneCoin’s case
Cryptocurrency scams and frauds have been on the rise, with unsuspecting victims losing millions of dollars to unscrupulous individuals and organizations. As such, regulatory bodies across the globe have been stepping up their efforts to clamp down on these schemes. The extradition of Irina Dilkinska, OneCoin’s former head of legal and compliance, is a significant step towards bringing the perpetrators of such scams to justice.
