The head of a multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency pyramid scheme could be jailed for 10 years

The former head of the legal department of the notorious OneCoin cryptocurrency pyramid scheme pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges. According to prosecutors, Irina Dilkinskaya participated in a scheme that resulted in investors losing billions of dollars.

The 42-year-old Bulgarian citizen currently faces up to 10 years in prison. Prosecutor Damian Williams said that as the so-called head of the legal department, Dilkinskaya «achieved the exact opposite of the goal she set out to achieve.»

According to her confession, the woman facilitated the laundering of millions of dollars of illegal profits made by OneCoin through a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme. She transferred $ 110 million obtained through fraud to a company in the Cayman Islands.

As a reminder, in November 2019, the Southern District of New York court found OneCoin lawyer Mark Scott guilty of laundering almost $ 400 million. In the spring of 2020, Konstantin Ignatov, the brother of the pyramid’s founder, Ruda Ignatova, was detained at Los Angeles Airport. The man later pleaded guilty to several charges.

In February 2023, journalists reported on the murder of Ignatova, who was on the Europol and FBI’s most wanted lists. Later, the U.S. Federal Prosecutor’s Office charged OneCoin’s former head of legal and compliance Irina Dilkinskaya with fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She faces up to 40 years in prison.