OneCoin Co-Founder Karl Greenwood Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

Karl Greenwood, 1 of the founders of the OneCoin pyramid scheme, was sentenced to 20 years successful situation for his relation successful the task by a national tribunal successful the Southern District of New York, according to a connection from the attorney's bureau connected Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos besides ordered Greenwood to forfeit $300 million, the approximate magnitude helium pocketed from the scheme.

OneCoin began successful Bulgaria successful 2014, branding itself arsenic a cryptocurrency and telling investors that the token could beryllium mined and had existent value. In reality, it did not beryllium connected the blockchain and was a pyramid strategy successful which investors were rewarded for bringing successful caller participants. OneCoin is estimated to person defrauded much than $4 cardinal from astatine slightest 3.5 cardinal victims.

Greenwood was OneCoin's "global maestro distributor and the person of the MLM (multi-level marketing) web done which the fraudulent cryptocurrency was marketed and sold," the attorney's bureau said. This earned him 5% of OneCoin's monthly income anyplace successful the world.

He was arrested successful Thailand successful 2018 and extradited to the U.S., wherever helium was detained awaiting trial. He pleaded blameworthy to charges of ligament fraud and conspiracy to launder wealth past December.

Co-founder of the strategy Ruja Ignatova, known arsenic the "CryptoQueen," remains astatine ample and was named connected the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Most Wanted database past year.