Plaintiffs Settle With OneCoin Co-Founder
- On Thursday, Konstantin Ignatov settled with plaintiffs Donald Berdeaus and Christine Grablis, the representatives of OneCoin investors.
- Konstantin is no longer facing 90 years of prison time.
Illustration from Freepik
The legal action brought against the co-founder of cryptocurrency scam OneCoin, Konstantin Ignatov, has been settled in court, news outlet the Finance Magnates reported on 7 August.
According to the publication, the representatives of the OneCoin investors, plaintiffs Donald Berdeaus and Christine Grablis, agreed to settle with Ignatov on Thursday, saving him from the potential 90 years in prison he was facing. Although the details of the settlement still remain unclear, Ignatov is no longer one of the key defendants in the case brought by the victims of the $4 billion scam.
The filing reads:
“Plaintiffs and defendant Konstantin Ignatov (together, the “Parties”) wish to discontinue between them without prejudice the claims asserted against Defendant Ignatov while not impeding in any way Plaintiffs’ further prosecution of their claims against the other defendants in this action.”
While Ignatov has reached a settlement with the plaintiffs, the case will continue to target the other co-founder of the OneCoin scam, and Ignatov’s sister, Ruja Ignatova. Although she went missing in 2017, after the U.S. filed a secret warrant for her arrest, Ignatov did testify that his sister had obtained a passport and tickets to Austria and Greece before her disappearance. Known for speaking against his sister, Ignatov also allegedly hired a private investigator to look for clues about Ignatova’s location.
Back in April, U.S. Judge Valerie Caproni of the New York Southern District Court warned the plaintiffs that they had to provide a good reason for not dismissing the class-action lawsuit. Despite that, the prosecution of people related to the OneCoin scam has continued around the world, with Singaporean authorities fining a 52-year old man for promoting the Ponzi scheme only last month.
- Karl Greenwood, co-founder of the OneCoin crypto pyramid scheme, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and ordered to pay back the $300 million he made in commissions.
- Greenwood was the “global master distributor and the leader of the MLM (multi-level marketing) network” during his time in OneCoin, earning him 5% of all monthly sales.
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- The 52-year old man has been fined $72,000.
- Using a referral program similar to pyramid schemes, the man and his team were able to sign up 1,180 people from Singapore and other countries.
- David Pike’s trial, who is allegedly linked to the OneCoin scheme, was postponed until 12 January 2020.
- Pike has been accused of having made materially false statements in front of special agents from the FBI and the IRS.