OneCoin marketing guru in plea talks

Published at: Dec. 19, 2020

According to court reports from Friday, yet another suspected player behind the OneCoin ponzi scheme is now set to face justice. 

On Friday, counsel for marketing guru Karl Sebastian Greenwood and US prosecutors informed Manhattan Judge Edgardo Ramos that the two sides are currently discussing a plea deal for Greenwood, who was indicted in 2018 for charges relating to his involvement in the OneCoin Ponzi scheme.

Greenwood — who is currently facing five charges including money laundering, fraud, and conspiracy — was described in previous civil litigation as the “public face of OneCoin.” Greenwood was responsible for pitching OneCoin and soliciting new investments in the project, which eventually defrauded billions from investors worldwide.

The indictment alleges that Greenwood "made false statements and misrepresentations soliciting individuals throughout the world [...] resulting in the receipt of over $1 billion of investor funds”. The marketer operated out of Sweden during his time with OneCoin, and was arrested in Thailand in 2018.

Greenwood is in jail in Manhattan as he awaits his trial or a possible deal. The mastermind behind OneCoin, Ruja "Cryptoqueen" Ignatova, remains at large.

The OneCoin case and its aftermath has proven to be one of the messiest in crypto’s history, and a movie based on the events is set to enter production with star Kate Winslett, along with a separate BBC series in the works.

Additionally, despite the ongoing litigation Greenwood should consider himself lucky: Ignatova’s personal lawyer Mark S. Scott was disbarred in November following his conviction for money laundering, and two other marketers involved with promoting OneCoin were found dead after a reported kidnapping in July.

Tags
Blockchain
Scams
Ponzi Scheme
Onecoin
Related Posts
OneCoin: A deep dive into crypto’s most notorious Ponzi scheme
The latest ruling in the class-action lawsuit against OneCoin has dismissed Konstantin Ignatov, co-founder of OneCoin, as a defendant after he agreed to testify against his sister. Ignatov is the brother of Ruja Ignatova, the infamous leader and face of OneCoin also known as “Cryptoqueen.” Ignatova disappeared in 2017 and has since managed to evade authorities and the general public. While Ignatov was dismissed from the lawsuit initiated by defrauded OneCoin investors, court documents indicate that this same case will continue to target Ignatova. Both siblings are still the defendants in another legal action brought by the United States Department …
Blockchain / Sept. 1, 2020
$4B OneCoin scam co-founder pleads guilty, faces 60 years jail
Karl Sebastian Greenwood, the co-founder of the multi-billion dollar fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme OneCoin has pleaded guilty to multiple charges brought forward by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and faces a maximum of 60 years in prison. The DOJ announced on Dec. 16 that Greenwood submitted a guilty plea in a Manhattan federal court to charges of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy with each charge carrying a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in jail. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Greenwood operated “one of the largest international fraud schemes ever perpetrated” and claimed he touted …
Blockchain / Dec. 19, 2022
OneCoin Marketing Scam Operator Fined $72,000 in Singapore
On Wednesday, a 52-year old man named Fok Fook Seng of Singapore was found guilty of operating a multi-level marketing scam linked to the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme OneCoin. Since its inception, the OneCoin crypto scam has defrauded investors of more than $4.4 billion. According to local news outlet Channel News Asia, Fok was convicted for promoting the MLM scheme between January 2016 and June 2017 and was fined 100,000 Singapore dollars (~$72,000). The police first pressed charges against him in April 2019 under the Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Selling Prohibition Act, which they said was the first of its kind. …
Regulation / July 3, 2020
CFTC Files Lawsuit Against $11M Ponzi-Like Cryptocurrency Scam
The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced the filing of a civil enforcement action against Nevada-based Circle Society. Defendants guaranteed investors 300% return On Oct. 16, the CFTC announced that it was charging Circle Society and its owner, David Gilbert Saffron, with “fraudulent solicitation, misappropriation, and registration violations relating to an $11 million binary options scheme.” According to the charges, the defendants misappropriated at least $11 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) and U.S. dollars from individuals in the United States to “trade off-exchange binary options on foreign currencies and cryptocurrency pairs, among other things.” CFTC Chairman Heath …
Blockchain / Oct. 16, 2019
Rwanda’s Central Bank Issues PSA on Alleged Cryptocurrency Get-Rich-Quick Scams
The National Bank of Rwanda, the country’s central bank, has issued a public service announcement on alleged cryptocurrency scams, according to an official Twitter post on May 30. The central bank specifically warns the public about initial coin offering (ICO) scams and crypto-based Ponzi schemes, which purport to offer a quick and significant return on investment for early adopters. These sorts of scams have reportedly been active in Rwanda, through firms like Supermarketings Global Ltd, 3 Friends System (3FS) Group Ltd, OneCoin, and Kwakoo (OnyxCoin). The National Bank of Rwanda cautions investors to vet their potential projects, and reminds the …
Blockchain / May 30, 2019