OneCoin : The American Justice Department Launches Refunds Five Years Later
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The biggest crypto scam in history resurfaces. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has just activated a compensation process for OneCoin victims. Forty million dollars are available. For a fraud estimated at 4 billion. The calculation is quick.
In Brief
- The DOJ officially opens a refund procedure for the OneCoin scam victims.
- More than 40 million dollars of seized assets are available for distribution.
- Victims have until June 30 to submit their files via administrator Kroll.
- OneCoin siphoned more than 4 billion dollars worldwide between 2014 and 2019.
OneCoin, a compensation procedure finally accessible to victims
The DOJ officially launched its debt relief procedure last Monday. Now, any investor who purchased crypto OneCoin between 2014 and 2019, from any country, can file a compensation claim.
Forms are available on the program’s website managed by Kroll, the company appointed as administrator. Deadline: June 30, 2025.
The funds come from criminal confiscations related to federal prosecutions initiated in the Southern District of New York. In other words: the assets seized from convicted accomplices feed this common fund. A fund very insufficient considering the scale of the disaster.
Because the numbers are dizzying. OneCoin collected more than 4 billion dollars from victims worldwide. The DOJ today can only redistribute 40 million, barely 1% of the total damage. For hundreds of thousands of defrauded investors around the globe, the disappointment is likely to be immense.
A dismantled criminal network, a fugitive still free
Although the judicial machine has ended up crushing several key actors of the OneCoin network, the main piece is still missing. Ruja Ignatova, nicknamed the “Cryptoqueen,” has been missing since 2017.
The FBI placed her on its list of the ten most wanted fugitives in June 2022. The State Department offers up to 5 million dollars for any information leading to her capture. Nothing to date.
Around her, convictions are piling up however:
- Karl Sebastian Greenwood, co-founder, pleaded guilty in December 2022. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a 300 million dollar fine.
- Irina Dilkinska, legal officer, admitted guilt in November 2023. The judge sentenced her to 4 years in prison and confiscation of 111 million dollars in April 2024.
- A Munich lawyer appeared before a German court for transferring 20 million euros to the Cayman Islands on Ignatova’s behalf.
- William Morro, arrested in April 2024, faces charges of laundering 41 million dollars of OneCoin funds via Hong Kong and the United States.
The OneCoin case illustrates, with rare brutality, the havoc a well-orchestrated crypto scam can cause, and the slowness with which justice catches up with its actors. Forty million dollars for four billion in damage is a poor consolation. As long as Ruja Ignatova is still on the run, the darkest chapter of this story remains open.
