ONECOIN LEGAL CHIEF GETS 4-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE 

The former Head of Legal and Compliance at OneCoin, Irina Dilkinska, was sentenced to a four-year prison term after pleading guilty to involvement in wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies last November.

The announcement came from the Southern District of New York, where US District Judge Edgardo Ramos handed down the sentence, highlighting Dilkinska’s role in the OneCoin fraud operation. Dilkinska, who was extradited from Bulgaria to the United States in March 2023, was deeply involved in the fraudulent activities of OneCoin, notably in laundering $110 million of illicit proceeds to a company based in the Cayman Islands.

Her guilty plea last year encompassed charges related to her activities at OneCoin, focusing on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies.

US Attorney Damian Williams commented on the sentencing, emphasizing the serious breach of trust by Dilkinska. He pointed out her failure to fulfill her legal and compliance duties, instead choosing to launder money and contribute to defrauding millions. Williams stressed the commitment of his office to prosecute all individuals involved in the OneCoin scam, irrespective of their location.

Dilkinska, 42, from Bulgaria, also received a sentence of one month of supervised release and was ordered to forfeit $111,440,000.

The Case Against OneCoin

OneCoin was established in 2014 in Sofia, Bulgaria, and quickly engaged in a global scam by promoting a nonexistent cryptocurrency. Utilizing a multi-level marketing strategy, the scheme misled investors worldwide, resulting in over $4 billion being funneled into the scam. Dilkinska had acknowledged her role in the conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering earlier.

Earlier in the year, Mark Scott, a former partner at the US law firm Locke Lord, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his part in laundering funds for OneCoin. Convicted in November 2019, Scott was found guilty of money laundering and bank fraud conspiracy.

In addition to his decade-long prison term, Judge Edgardo Ramos ordered Scott to forfeit assets valued at $392,940,000, which included bank accounts, luxury vehicles, and real estate properties.

The plot further thickened with the disappearance of OneCoin’s founder, Ruja Ignatova, in October 2017, following a tip-off about an intensifying police investigation. Despite being placed on Europol’s ‘most wanted’ list and an Interpol Red Notice being issued, Ignatova remains at large. Her case was notably highlighted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, which added her to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, underlining the severity of the OneCoin fraud.

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