Irina Dilkinska, the head of legal and compliance at Onecoin, has pleaded guilty to “wire fraud and money laundering charges.” The charges against Dilkinska relate to her role in organizing the transfer of $110 million in fraudulently obtained funds to a Cayman Islands entity.
The $110 Million Transfer to a Cayman Islands Entity
Irina Dilkinska, the one-time head of legal and compliance at Onecoin, has pleaded guilty to “wire fraud and money laundering charges,” Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has said. In a Nov. 9 press release, Williams said the charges against Dilkinska relate to her role in organizing the transfer of $110 million in fraudulently obtained funds to a Cayman Islands entity.
Founded in 2014 by Ruja Ignatova, aka Cryptoqueen, and Karl Sebastian Greenwood, Onecoin operated as a multi-level marketing (MLM) network which encouraged members to recruit others to purchase cryptocurrency packages. As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, Onecoin generated billions of dollars for founders like Ignatova but left many investors worse off.
However, since the U.S. brought fraud and money laundering charges against Ignatova in October 2017, several Onecoin insiders have been handed jail sentences. In September 2023, Greenwood, who also served as Onecoin’s global master distributor and the leader of the MLM network, was sentenced to 20 years in a U.S. jail. Greenwood’s sentencing came just over five years after his arrest in Thailand.
Dereliction of Duty
Meanwhile, in remarks following Dilkinska’s guilty plea, Williams said:
“As Onecoin’s so-called ‘Head of Legal and Compliance’ Irina Dilkinska accomplished the exact opposite goal of her position. As she has now admitted, Dilkinska facilitated the laundering of millions of dollars of illicit profits Onecoin accrued through its multi-level marketing scheme.”
He added that officials from his office and the law enforcement partners will pursue the matter until all defendants including the fugitive Ignatova are brought to justice.
According to the press release, Dilkinska, a Bulgarian national, faces a maximum of five years in prison for the count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. For the money laundering count, the Onecoin head of legal and compliance also faces a maximum sentence of five years.
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