Bulgarian woman, Irina Dilkinska, has been extradited to the United States and charged for her involvement in the OneCoin cryptocurrency pyramid scheme. The charges were unsealed by the DOJ on March 21. The fraudulent cryptocurrency was marketed and sold to millions of victims worldwide, resulting in billions of dollars in losses.

Dilkinska was the Head of Legal and Compliance for OneCoin. She is accused of enabling OneCoin to launder millions of dollars of illegal proceeds through shell companies, and of helping perpetuate a scheme that affected millions of victims. She will appear before United States Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn to face justice for her alleged crimes.

OneCoin began operations in 2014 and was based in Sofia, Bulgaria. The company was founded by Ruja Ignatova, also known as “the Cryptoqueen,” and Karl Sebastian Greenwood. It marketed a purported cryptocurrency by the same name, which was in fact a fraudulent pyramid scheme.

OneCoin operated as a multi-level-marketing (MLM) network through which members received commissions for recruiting others to purchase cryptocurrency packages. According to OneCoin’s promotional materials, over three million people invested in fraudulent cryptocurrency packages. OneCoin records show that, between the fourth quarter of 2014 and the fourth quarter of 2016 alone, OneCoin generated €4.037 billion in sales revenue and earned “profits” of €2.735 billion.

Dilkinska was accused of assisting in the creation and management of shell companies to launder OneCoin proceeds and to hold property belonging to Ignatova. She allegedly helped co-conspirator Mark Scott, a former equity partner at a prominent international law firm, launder approximately $400 million in OneCoin proceeds through a series of fake Cayman Islands investment funds operated by Scott.

Dilkinska used a company named B&N Consult EEOD to disguise the transfer of millions of dollars as purported “investments” into Scott’s funds. In or around September 2018, Dilkinska learned of Scott’s arrest in connection with his laundering of OneCoin proceeds. Shortly thereafter, Dilkinska burned incriminating documents, sent co-conspirator Konstantin Ignatov a text message with a link to a newspaper article about the arrest, and then wrote a series of texts.

The charges against Dilkinska are a result of the exceptional investigative work of federal and international law enforcement partners. The IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to holding those who commit fraud accountable, no matter where they are located. The FBI will continue its determination to bring alleged fraudsters like Dilkinska to justice.

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This article was republished from azcoinnews.com