The US Department of Justice has announced a compensation process for victims of the $4 billion OneCoin Ponzi scheme. More than $40 million in forfeited assets from the scheme’s architects is now available for distribution to purchasers who suffered net losses between 2014 and 2019.
The US Department of Justice has launched a compensation process for victims of the $4 billion crypto Ponzi scheme OneCoin, using forfeited assets taken from some of the scheme’s architects. More than $40 million in forfeited assets is available to compensate anyone who purchased OneCoin between 2014 and 2019 and recorded a net loss.
Jay Clayton, the US Attorney for Manhattan, said the compensation process was “an important step toward returning funds to those harmed.” OneCoin was launched in 2014 with the goal of surpassing Bitcoin, and it later collapsed as users discovered the coins had no utility.
“Between 2014 and 2019, OneCoin’s founders sold a lie disguised as cryptocurrency, costing victims more than $4 billion worldwide,” Clayton said. The Justice Department estimates that between 2014 and the end of 2016, the scheme stole more than $4 billion from around 3.5 million victims.
OneCoin was launched by Ruja Ignatova and Karl Sebastian Greenwood in Bulgaria and began operating in the United States around 2015. Bulgarian police eventually raided OneCoin’s headquarters in 2018 and arrested Greenwood.
Greenwood was sentenced to 20 years in prison in September 2023 for his role in the scheme. Ignatova was last seen in 2017, boarding a flight to Athens, and she is one of the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.”
