Founder of anonymous cryptocurrency extradited to South Africa

The U.S. District Court in Tennessee has decided to extradite Ricardo Spagnucci, co-founder of the anonymous cryptocurrency Monero. According to the document issued by the court, Spagni’s extradition to South Africa will take place on July 5 this year.

The Monero co-founder is charged with 378 counts. Among them are fraud in the amount of 1.5 million South African rands ($ 93,000), forgery, and disclosure of confidential information. That is why the South African authorities issued an arrest warrant for Spagnucci and asked US law enforcement to detain him for extradition. Last year, Spagni was already arrested on the basis of a South African warrant, but was released after his lawyers provided a number of pieces of evidence.

Interestingly, after his release from custody in 2021, Spagni tweeted that he wanted to return to South Africa and settle everything on his own: «I am very grateful that the US court has released me. I am actively working with my lawyers to return to South Africa as soon as possible so that I can try this case and resolve this matter once and for all. This is something I have always wanted to do.»

I am very pleased that the U.S. court has released me. I am actively working with my attorneys on a way to return to South Africa as soon as possible so I can address this matter and get it behind me once and for all. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do.

— Riccardo Spagni (@fluffypony) September 21, 2021

It is not yet known whether Ricardo Spagni was as enthusiastic about the court’s extradition decision. As we reported earlier, Spagni stole about $ 93,000 from his previous company Cape Cookies. He is also suspected of intercepting invoices intended for IT provider Ensync and falsifying new invoices. Spagni created invoices purporting to be from Ensync by entering his company’s bank account and VAT number and sent them to Cape Cookies.

However, Monero’s co-founder is not the only crypto fraudster awaiting extradition. Hacker Robert Barr, who stole more than 35 million pounds, is facing forced transfer to the United States.