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The brother of the "crypto queen" of the OneCoin scam has been released from prison

The brother of the fugitive "crypto queen" Ruja Ignatova was released after 34 months in prison. After his sister disappeared, he was considered the "de facto leader" of OneCoin. Bloomberg writes about this.

Updated March 06, 2024

Konstantin Ignatov was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to 34 months in prison. He immediately pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering and agreed to cooperate with law enforcement officers.

During the cooperation, Ignatov testified against the former lawyer of the OneCoin cryptopyramide, Mark Scott. At the end of January this year, he was given 10 years in prison for laundering $ 400 million.

At the hearing, during which the judges decided to release the brother of the "crypto queen", Ignatov was moved and said:

"I can only blame myself [...] it's still hard for me to look in the mirror. The last five years have been a very painful period in my life, but I am glad for the lessons I have learned."

In the next two years, the now-released will be monitored by the court. In addition, he needs to transfer $ 118 thousand to law enforcement officers, which Ignatov received while working at OneCoin.

The "crypto queen" brought her brother into the fraudulent business in 2017. Formally, he was listed as a loader driver in Germany. However, Ignatov actually worked as her personal assistant.

When law enforcement officers drew attention to the OneCoin cryptopyramide, Ruzha Ignatova escaped. No one still knows where she is. The "crypto Queen" is on the list of the ten most wanted persons of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).