Scams in the cryptocurrency industry have been persistent since the inception of the industry, and as years have advanced, their numbers have only increased. Given the difficulty of many cases, the US Department of Justice has succeeded in closing down several of them.
Just recently, the Southern District Court of New York decided to postpone the sentencing control date for Konstantin Ignatov, alleged OneCoin co-founder Ruja Ignatova’s notorious accomplice. The brother was first arrested last year at Los Angeles International Airport when he landed and pleaded guilty to a multi-billion dollar fraud.
The New York court stated that the current proceedings could not be carried forward because of the spread of the coronavirus and how it has affected several industries. The court had initially set April 8 hearing date, which was then changed to July 8 of this year. If the current pandemic causes the US government to extend lockdowns in the region, this date may change again.
According to court documents, Ingnatov had not fessed up to a lot of items on the agenda that would allow the authorities to arrest his sister also known as the “Cryptoqueen”. The siblings face life sentences in prison for orchestrating one of the largest cryptocurrency scams the industry has ever seen. The cryptocurrency exchange was founded in 2014 with the Bulgarian organization continuing operations till late 2019.
The Bank of Ireland revealed in 2019 that they were planning to initiate a trial against Mark Scott, one of Ignatov’s associates in the case. He’s set to act as a prime witness in the testimony against Mr. Scott with Ignatov’s arrest. Mark Scott had laundered over $400 million in cryptocurrencies using the money from investors in OneCoin. This mammoth figure made it one of the biggest loots in the history of cryptocurrency scams.
The New York court added that the culprit’s cooperation was not yet complete and that there was a lot more information to be deciphered. Court proceedings stated that during the adjournment, some case files may be unsealed to get a clearer picture of the case. As it stands, Ignatov faces up to 90 years in prison with his sister still on the run from the authorities.
There are many rumors surrounding the Ruja Ignatova case, with some reports claiming that she had the support of a “rich and powerful” Russian citizen. It is easy to assume who the person might be, but such cases are very common in the country led by Vladimir Putin. Russia has not made any noise on the case yet, but things could change once the three-month period is over.