The Southern District Court of New York has sentenced Bulgarian citizen Irina Delkinska to four years in prison for her participation in the web3 OneCoin initiative and its cryptocurrency of the same name.
Dilkinska must also forfeit $111,440,000 and undergo supervised release for a month, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.
Dilkinska was head of legal and compliance for the project but facilitated money laundering and other financial crimes. In one case, Dilkinska transferred $110 million in OneCoin illicit proceeds to a Cayman Island entity.
“Irina Delkinska's involvement in OneCoin's sprawling pyramid scheme was an egregious violation of conduct. Instead of upholding the law and embracing her position as Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, she facilitated and committed money laundering, helping to exploit millions of victims,” U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said in a statement Wednesday. .
The project's records show that it has recruited more than 3 million participants, generating nearly $4.4 billion (4.037 billion euros) in sales revenue between the last two quarters of 2014 and 2016, the Justice Ministry's statement adds. In total, victims invested more than $4 billion in OneCoin.
Dilkinska's guilty plea
In November 2023, Delkinska pleaded guilty to charges related to wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies for her role in OneCoin, The Block previously reported.
The Department of Justice alleges that OneCoin operates as a global multi-level marketing scheme or “pyramid scheme,” a controversial business model in which sellers receive a commission for their sales and recruit new participants.
OneCoin was founded by Ruja Ignatova, better known as “Cryptoqueen,” and Karl Sebastian Greenwood. Greenwood was sentenced to 20 years in prison and forced to pay a $300 million fine for his involvement in OneCoin and pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering crimes.
Ruja Ignatova has been on the FBI's most wanted list since May 2022 and is presumed still at large.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that provides news, research and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is the majority investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures is investing in other companies in the cryptocurrency space. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is a core program of Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to work independently to provide objective, influential and timely information about the cryptocurrency industry. Below are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All rights reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not provided or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.
