A Bulgarian woman has been charged for her role in a cryptocurrency pyramid scheme and has been extradited to the United States.
Irina Dilkinska, 41, of Sofia, Bulgaria, has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud that carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison, according to a Department of Justice press release. She was also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison.
Dilkinska was charged in connection with a vast fraud scheme by the name of OneCoin, the release stated. OneCoin started in 2014 out of Sofia and marketed and sold fake cryptocurrency of the same name through a multi-level marketing (MLM) network around the world. This led to victims investing more than $4 billion in fraudulent cryptocurrency. Dilkinska was extradited March 20 and went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn March 21.
“Irina Dilkinska, the supposed head of legal and compliance for the OneCoin cryptocurrency pyramid scheme, accomplished the exact opposite of her job title and allegedly enabled OneCoin to launder millions of dollars of illegal proceeds through shell companies,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams. “Dilkinska helped perpetuate a wide-ranging scheme with millions of victims and billions of dollars in losses, and she will now face justice for her alleged crimes.”
The charges against Dilkinska are the product of investigative work and cooperation between federal and international law enforcement organizations, said Thomas Fattorusso, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, special agent in charge.
“Those who commit fraud are put on notice today that IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to holding them accountable no matter where they are located,” Fattorusso said.
According to allegations in a previous indictment and court papers, in 2014 Ruja Ignatova, also known as “the Cryptoqueen” and Karl Sebastian Greenwood, co-founded OneCoin to market a cryptocurrency by the same name, which was actually fraudulent.
The members of the multi-level marketing network received commissions for recruiting other people to buy cryptocurrency packages, according to the release. This led to massive growth as more than 3 million people allegedly invested in the fraudulent packages. Between 2014 and the fourth quarter of 2016, OneCoin records show it generated more than $4.037 billion in revenue and earned $2 billion in profits.
On Oct. 12, 2017, Ignatova was charged with fraud related to OneCoin and money laundering in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. A federal warrant was issued for her arrest. She then traveled from Sofa to Athens, Greece on Oct. 25, 2017, and has not been seen since. She is on the FBI Most Wanted List and there is a $100,000 reward for information leading to her arrest.
