Court unseals indictment of OneCoin co-conspirator Frank Schneider
The New York Southern District Court has earlier this week unsealed the indictment of OneCoin co-conspirator Frank Schneider.
Mr Schneider is charged with Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.
The Grand Jury charges that from in or about 2014 through in or about 2019, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, Mr Schneider and others known and unknown, willfully and knowingly did combine, conspire, confederate, and agree together and with each other to violate Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.
It was a part and an object of the conspiracy that the defendant, and others known and unknown, willfully and knowingly, having devised and intending to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and for obtaining money andproperty by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, would and did transmit and cause to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, and television communication in interstate and foreign commerce, writings, signs, signals, pictures, and sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice.
Schneider helped to operate an international fraud scheme involving the sale of a purported cryptocurrency known as “OneCoin” – by, among other things, managing the scheme’s proceeds and evading law enforcement investigations into the scheme – as part of which false statements and misrepresentations were made to solicit individuals throughout the world, including in the Southern District of New York, to invest in OneCoin, thereby causing individuals to send interstate and international wires representing their OneCoin investments.
From at least in or about 2014 through at least in or about 2019, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, and in an offense begun and committed out of the jurisdiction of any particular state or District, Schneider willfully and knowingly combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed together and with each other to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956 (a) (1) (B) (i) and 1956 (a) (2) (B) (i).
OneCoin Ltd. operated as a multi-level marketing network through which members receive commissions for recruiting others to purchase cryptocurrency packages. This multi-level marketing structure has fueled the rapid growth of the OneCoin member network. Indeed, OneCoin Ltd. has claimed to have more than 3 million members worldwide, including victims living and/or working within the Southern District of New York.
Records obtained in the course of the investigation show that, between the fourth quarter of 2014 and the third quarter of 2016 alone, OneCoin Ltd. generated €3.353 billion in sales revenue and earned “profits” of €2.232 billion.
The sentencing of OneCoin’s leader Konstantin Ignatov has recently been rescheduled again. Ignatov’s sister, Ruja Ignatova – a founder and original leader of OneCoin, is on FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.