The biggest crypto scam in history resurfaces. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has just activated a compensation process for OneCoin victims. Forty million dollars are available. For a fraud estimated at 4 billion. The calculation is quickly done.
In brief
- The DOJ officially opens reimbursement proceedings for victims of the OneCoin scam.
- More than $40 million in forfeited assets are available for distribution.
- Victims have until June 30 to submit their case via the Kroll administrator.
- OneCoin siphoned off more than $4 billion between 2014 and 2019 across the world.
OneCoin, a compensation procedure finally accessible to victims
The DOJ officially launched its debt forgiveness process last Monday. Now, any investor who purchased OneCoin crypto between 2014 and 2019, from any country, can file a compensation request.
Forms are available on the program website managed by Kroll, the company designated as administrator. Deadline: June 30, 2025.
The funds come from criminal forfeitures related to federal prosecutions in the Southern District of New York. In short: it is the assets seized from the convicted accomplices which feed this common pot. A very insufficient pot given the scale of the disaster.
Because the numbers are dizzying. OneCoin has collected over $4 billion from victims around the world. The DOJ can now only redistribute 40 millionor barely 1% of the total damage. For hundreds of thousands of cheated investors all over the world, the disappointment risks being immense.
A criminal web dismantled, a fugitive still free
If the judicial machine ended up crushing several key players in the OneCoin network, the centerpiece is still missing. Ruja Ignatova, nicknamed the “Cryptoqueen”, has not been found since 2017.
The FBI placed her on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in June 2022. The State Department is offering up to $5 million for information leading to her capture. Nothing, to date.
Around her, however, the condemnations are piling up:
- Karl Sebastian Greenwood, co-founder, pleaded guilty in December 2022. He received 20 years in prison and a $300 million fine.
- Irina Dilkinska, legal manager, admitted her guilt in November 2023. The judge imposed 4 years in prison and the confiscation of $111 million in April 2024.
- A Munich lawyer has appeared in a German court charged with transferring 20 million euros to the Cayman Islands in Ignatova's name.
- William Morro, arrested in April 2024, faces charges of laundering $41 million in OneCoin funds through Hong Kong and the United States.
The OneCoin affair illustrates, with rare brutality, the devastation that a well-orchestrated crypto scam can cause, and the slowness with which justice catches up with its actors. Forty million dollars for four billion in damage is little consolation. As long as Ruja Ignatova is still running, the darkest chapter of this story remains open.
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