The lawyer of the Onecoin cryptopyramid was sentenced to 4 years in prison for fraud for $ 4 billion

The United States court has sentenced the former head of the legal department and compliance department of the cryptocurrency pyramid OneCoin, Irina Dilkinka, to four years in prison. In addition to imprisonment, she was also ordered to serve one month of supervision after release and pay a fine of $111,444,000. Judge Edgardo Ramos called Dilkinka "a woman with high intelligence who should have understood the consequences better." He added that she fully understood the legal consequences of her actions when participating in a fraud worth $4 billion.

Dilkinka pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering charges in federal court in Manhattan on November 10th. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and ex-legal chief faced up to ten years in prison.

OneCoin, launched in Sofia in 2014, sold its eponymous coins through a multi-level marketing (MLM) system. Founders claimed the asset as "the killer of bitcoin," capable of "financial revolution" and stated it could be used for securing positions in mining pools.

By the end of 2016, the company had attracted more than $4 billion from over 3.5 million investors worldwide, while the sold coins did not even exist in digital form.

Dilkinka is not the first OneCoin executive to face prison time for involvement in a fraudulent scheme. Co-founder Carl Sebastian Greenwood received 20 years in prison and a $300 million fine last September, while his accomplice Ruja Ignatova is listed among the top 10 most wanted criminals by the FBI. Last year, lawyer Mark Scott received 10 years in prison for his role in the cryptocurrency pyramid.

In March, the US court sentenced the founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, to 25 years in prison for fraud worth $8 billion. In his final statement, the businessman expressed regret and said that FTX could have survived if it had not been closed. Prosecutors requested between 40 and 50 years in prison for him, while defense lawyers asked for up to 6.5 years, citing that victims would receive compensation as part of the bankruptcy process of the exchange.