A federal choose in New York sentenced the co-founder of the purported cryptocurrency OneCoin to twenty years in jail on Tuesday for what prosecutors known as a $4 billion fraud.
U.S. District Decide Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan sentenced Karl Sebastian Greenwood, a twin citizen of Sweden and the UK, who pleaded responsible to fraud and cash laundering costs in December 2022.
Ramos additionally ordered Greenwood to forfeit $300 million.
Greenwood has been detained in New York since his 2018 arrest in Thailand and extradition to the US over his position in selling OneCoin.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of at the very least 30 years for Greenwood, who they stated was OneCoin’s “major promoter” who touted it as the subsequent Bitcoin. In actuality, OneCoin was a pyramid scheme that defrauded at the very least 3.5 million folks, they stated.
Greenwood’s attorneys had requested for a sentence of time served, citing harsh situations throughout his detention.
Greenwood based OneCoin in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2014 alongside Ruja Ignatova, a German citizen who prosecutors say is also called the ‘Cryptoqueen.’ The FBI named her to its prime ten most-wanted checklist final 12 months.
Ignatova stays at giant, prosecutors stated.
An legal professional for Greenwood declined to remark.
The sentence comes as prosecutors in Manhattan gear up for the trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not responsible to fraud and conspiracy costs stemming from the November 2022 collapse of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency alternate.
