Venezuelan authorities have arrested Rosa María González, a key suspect in the Generación Zoe crypto scheme that defrauded investors of over $120 million.
The police in San Cristóbal, Táchira state, apprehended González nearly four years after the collapse of the Argentine crypto scam platform and exactly one year after the network’s leader, Leonardo Cositorto, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
She is currently accused of fleeing with about 611 Bitcoin, worth $56 million at the time, while investors were left unable to recover their funds. González, also known as Rosa María “Buñuelos” González Rincón, had been on the run since mid-2022. Interpol issued a red notice, and Argentine authorities had an arrest warrant for her role in carrying out the crypto scam.
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Background on the Generación Zoe Crypto Scam
According to details, Generación Zoe offered investors an unusually high return and algorithm-based trading. González was reportedly responsible for developing the trading algorithms the platform used, and she claimed that it could help investors generate up to 70 percent monthly returns and featured “quantum security.”
Source: Clarin.com
The platform promised returns of up to 7.5 percent on stakes and attracted thousands of investors. Investigations revealed that González and other masterminds used the new investor funds to pay earlier participants, and with that, they left the majority of investors with losses.
González arrived in Argentina in 2019 and lived in Buenos Aires under a temporary permit. She moved frequently between rented apartments with private security before fleeing to Venezuela, where she was eventually located with her sister, Virginia, who was also involved with the scheme but has not faced charges.
The arrest of González marks a significant step in the ongoing investigation into the Generación Zoe crypto scam network, and it shows the challenges involved in cross-border financial fraud while attempting to recover stolen digital assets.
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