It was an ordinary day in 2016, the emblem of OneCoin embellishing the company doors in Sofia, Bulgaria. Little did anyone know, a storm was brewing… (Photo Reference: Ronny Martin Junnilainen via Wikimedia Commons)
Fast forward to present day, NEW YORK – A tangled web of deception woven by a proficient charlatan has finally met its undoing. Sebastian Greenwood, once hailed as a promising cryptocurrency trendsetter, faced his reckoning in a US federal court. Arrested under bad light in Thailand in 2018, the counterfeit cryptocurrency advocate was handed a stringent sentence of 20 years for his flagrant crimes of fraud.
This theatrical saga involves Greenwood’s notorious role in the OneCoin charade. Being a dual citizen of Sweden and the United Kingdom, he slyly operated this deceitful scheme, hoodwinking over 3.5 million hopeful investors and extorting a whopping USD 4 billion. This entire fiasco was duly noted by the examining prosecutors.
The gavel finally slammed in favour of justice as District Judge Edgardo Ramos, ruling from Manhattan, pronounced the verdict. Greenwood, who had earlier pleaded guilty to his unscrupulous activities of fraud and money laundering in December 2022, was ordered to forfeit a substantial USD 300 million.
Caught in the web of his own machinations, Greenwood was detained in New York following his dramatic arrest in 2018. His tranquil abode on Koh Samui morphed into a riveting crime scene, setting the stage for his extradition to the United States. At the heart of the controversy was his pivotal role in vehemently promoting OneCoin, a ruse that many unsuspecting investors from Thailand and other countries fell prey to.
In response to their swift action, the Anti-Money Laundering Office in Thailand confiscated an assortment of Greenwood’s possessions post his arrest. This included a notable 3.3 kilogrammes of gold bars, evidence of an opulence amassed through dubious means.
The prosecution painted a staggering picture of Greenwood as the “primary promoter” and mastermind behind OneCoin. He projected it as the cryptocurrency destined to replace Bitcoin. In stark contrast, this was a calculated scheme, an architectural pyramid of deceit.
The roots of OneCoin bore the burden of its tainted legacy, founded by Greenwood and his equally questionable associate, Ruja Ignatova, in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2014. Ignatova, a German citizen and deemed ‘Cryptoqueen’ by the prosecutors, earned a spot on the FBI’s most-wanted list last year.
The conclusion of Greenwood’s tale of deception does not signify an end to the cryptocurrency saga. Ignatova’s escape adds to the suspense. As authorities in Manhattan prepare for the impending trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who vehemently denies fraud and conspiracy charges following the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022, watch this space….
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