One of the co-founders of OneCoin has agreed to testify against his partner and sibling to avoid civil litigation for his role in the onecoin crypto scam.
The OneCoin scam, a Ponzi scheme disguised as cryptocurrency, has seen investors lose billions of dollars. Started by two siblings( Konstantin Ignatov and Ruja Ignatova) in Bulgaria in 2014, over $400,000 has been laundered through the infamous scheme.
After discovering that the Onecoin project has no real value, but just another crypto exit scam, aggrieved investors filed a class-action suit against the company/founders. While co-founder Ruja Ignatova absconded with her share of the largesse, Konstantin Ignatov has decided to cooperate with the authorities in their investigations.
As part of the deal that could cause a reduction in Konstantin's sentence, he has agreed to take the stand against his sister and provide evidence to support the aggrieved investors.
Konstantin has also been instrumental in mentioning other collaborators involved in the scheme and has testified against a former colleague, lawyer, and alleged onecoin money launderer, Mark Scott. He also pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and money laundering.
Although Konstantin could be sentenced to up to 90 years in prison, it is not clear how much would be reduced from his sentence, based on his cooperation with the authorities. He will be sentenced on 11th November.
The cryptocurrency industry has witnessed several Ponzi related exit scams, parading like legitimate investments, giving cryptos a bad reputation. For the most part, these schemes thrive on the level of ignorance concerning cryptocurrencies and are usually prominent in developing countries.
Source: Cointelegraph
