- Irina Dilkinska, the former head of legal and compliance for the OneCoin fraud scheme, was sentenced to four years in jail for wire fraud and money laundering charges.
- Dilkinska was ordered to forfeit $111 million as restitution and serve one month of supervised release.
- OneCoin co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood was previously sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $300 million in restitution for his role in the $4 billion Ponzi scheme.
The former head of legal and compliance for the multibillion-dollar OneCoin fraud scheme has been sentenced to four years in jail after admitting she helped launder millions of dollars.
Background on OneCoin Scheme
OneCoin was founded by “Cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova and Karl Sebastian Greenwood in 2014 and promised guaranteed returns to investors from a bogus cryptocurrency called OneCoin. However, it was later revealed that the company had never built a functioning blockchain and instead operated as a pyramid scheme that made its money by paying commissions to investors to sign up a constant stream of new buyers.
Latest Sentencing
42-year-old Irina Dilkinska was sentenced on Wednesday to four years in jail by United States District Judge Edgardo Ramos according to an April 3 statement from the US Attorney’s Office. In addition to her four-year jail sentence, Dilkinska was sentenced to one month of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $111 million as restitution. Judge Ramos reportedly denied Dilkinska’s request to avoid jail time and return home to care for young children in Bulgaria, according to an April 3 report from Bloomberg.
Judge’s Comments
Ramos said Dilkinska was “a woman of great intelligence and a woman who ought to have known better,” adding that she was fully aware of the legal consequences of her actions while involved in operating the $4 billion Ponzi scheme. “I honestly do not understand what prevented her from leaving the scheme before the point when it was brought down,” Ramos said.
Guilty Plea
Dilinska pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges in a Manhattan federal court on Nov 10. Each charge carried a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison, meaning that Dilkinska faced the possibility of 10 years imprisonment.
Other Prosecutions
Dilkinsa is the latest OneCoin executive to land themselves in prison for their role in the fraud scheme. On Sept 12 last year, the scheme’s co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood was sentenced to 20 years in prison on fraud and money laundering charges and was ordered to pay $300 million in restitution.
Conclusion
The sentencing of Dilkinska shows that authorities are continuing to crack down on those involved in the massive OneCoin scam, even years after the scheme collapsed. However, the mastermind behind it, Ignatova, remains at large.
