Authorities in the U.S. have announced charges against a former Onecoin executive for her alleged role in the notorious crypto pyramid scheme. Bulgarian national Irina Dilkinska, who was extradited on Monday, may face up to four decades in prison if found guilty on counts of fraud and money laundering.

Bulgarian Woman Handed Over to US to Face Charges Related to Onecoin

Judicial and law enforcement officials in the U.S. have pressed charges against a 41-year-old woman in connection with her participation in Onecoin, one of the largest scams in crypto history. Irina Dilkinska was extradited from Bulgaria, where the massive crypto Ponzi scheme was based.

Established in 2014, Onecoin offered investors a fake cryptocurrency by the same name, branded as ‘the Bitcoin killer’ at a point, through a global multi-level-marketing network. According to Onecoin’s own materials, more than 3 million people invested over $4 billion in the purported crypto by late 2016.

Dilkinska was the supposed head of legal and compliance at Onecoin, according to an announcement published by the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday. Authorities claim that in reality the woman accomplished the exact opposite of her job title.

She is accused of enabling Onecoin to launder millions of U.S. dollars through shell firms. “As alleged in the charges unsealed today, Dilkinska helped her co-conspirator, Mark Scott, launder approximately $400 million in Onecoin proceeds,” FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll noted.

Companies created by the Bulgarian national were also used to hold property on behalf of Onecoin founder and mastermind Ruja Ignatova, a Bulgarian-born German citizen. The latter was last seen boarding an Athens-bound flight in Sofia, on Oct. 25, 2017.

Pyramid’s Founder ‘Cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova Still Wanted

Dubbed ‘the missing Cryptoqueen,’ Ignatova disappeared less than two weeks after she was charged with fraud and money laundering in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She is still wanted by Interpol, Europol, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with a recent Bulgarian media report suggesting she might have been murdered in 2018.

Irina Dilkinska has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each of them carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison.

She is accused of burning incriminating documents after Scott’s arrest in 2018, about which she texted Ruja’s brother, Konstantin. Ignatov was detained in Los Angeles in 2019, pleaded guilty to Onecoin-related charges, and sought witness protection in the United States.

Another Onecoin co-founder, Swedish and British national Karl Sebastian Greenwood, pleaded guilty in December, 2022. Last month, a report revealed that Ruja’s ex-boyfriend, Gilbert Armenta, has been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in laundering proceeds from the crypto Pyramid.

Do you expect more people to face charges related to the Onecoin case? Tell us in the comments section below.

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Bitzlato users can now partially withdraw their bitcoin funds from the dismantled cryptocurrency exchange, according to a media report. The Russia-linked trading platform was targeted by Western law enforcement and had its France-based server infrastructure seized in January.

Bitzlato Customers Allowed to Withdraw Up to 50% of Their Bitcoin at the Exchange

Users of Bitzlato’s web portal and app can now withdraw a portion of the funds they had with the crypto exchange when it was busted by French and U.S. authorities in mid-January. Since Monday, its clients have access to half of their bitcoin (BTC) balances.

Account holders can withdraw up to 50% of their bitcoins, Bitzlato representatives told the Russian-language crypto news outlet Forklog. The minimum withdrawal amount is 0.001 BTC and the commission is 0.0003 BTC, the report detailed.

Withdrawals can be ordered through a Telegram bot and users need to provide the email address of their Bitzlato account, the article explained. Upon verification, a code necessary to complete the transfer is generated and sent to that email inbox.

The Hong Kong-registered exchange was dismantled based on allegations that it processed more than $700 million dollars’ worth of illicit funds, as the U.S. Justice Department announced, or over $1 billion, according to Europol.

The dirty money was allegedly related to various criminal activities and actors, including the former largest darknet market Hydra, which was shut down by Germany in April, and Russia’s biggest crypto pyramid scheme, Finiko.

Bitzlato co-founder and majority owner Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian national residing in China, was arrested in Miami. Four more members of Bitzlato’s team were detained in Europe while another co-founder, Anton Shkurenko, was questioned and released in Russia.

In an interview on Youtube, Shkurenko had announced plans to relocate the exchange to Russia and relaunch operations from there. He also promised to partially restore withdrawals despite French law enforcement having seized the platform’s hot wallet.

According to a survey conducted among almost 3,300 respondents in Bitzlato’s news channel on Telegram, 30% of users are withdrawing funds without issues, 3% experienced short-term asset freezes, the money of another 4% is still blocked, 12% are yet to decide how to withdraw, and more than half of the polled intend to wait for the platform’s peer-to-peer market to reopen.

What are your thoughts on the Bitzlato case? Share them in the comments section below.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

The financial regulatory body of Belgium has been tasked by the government to regulate advertisements for cryptocurrencies. New rules, set to enter into force in May, oblige advertisers to clearly warn investors of the risks associated with the digital assets.

Belgium Poised to Protect Consumers From Misleading Crypto Advertisements

Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) has been granted powers to strictly regulate crypto-themed advertising. The new rules, which will be applied in less than two months, are meant to ensure that the risks linked to virtual currencies are “sufficiently prominent” in such advertisements, the regulator said in an announcement on Monday.

A respective regulation issued by the FSMA, which will supervise compliance, has been published in the Belgian Official Gazette on March 17 and will enter into force on May 17, 2023. It prescribes that crypto-related ads must be accurate and not misleading while pointing out the risks.

It also requires that the FSMA is notified in advance about mass media campaigns, those disseminating advertisements to at least 25,000 consumers. The prior notification would allow the regulatory body to intervene before the start of such campaigns if it deems it necessary to do so.

“Advertisements may not emphasize the potential advantages without also providing an accurate indication of the risks, limitations or conditions. Nor may advertisements contain any statements about the future value or return, and must be written in comprehensible language,” the authority elaborated.

One of the rules supplementing these conditions is that cryptocurrency ads must contain a “short and punchy warning,” stating: “Virtual currencies, real risks. The only guarantee in crypto is risk.” Furthermore, they will have to feature, reference, or link to a broader warning presenting the various risks in detail.

The FSMA also intends to do more in regards to financial education about digital assets. It’s currently producing a series of videos devoted to virtual currencies targeting young people. These are part of an educational package that also includes an information sheet for teachers and a quiz for pupils.

The financial authority’s regulatory move comes after last week Belgium’s former Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt called on governments to ban cryptocurrencies amid a banking crisis involving two crypto-friendly banks. It also follows the publication of an article in which the head of the Dutch financial regulator vowed strict treatment of crypto businesses under EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) law.

What are your thoughts on the upcoming crypto advertising rules in Belgium? Tell us in the comments section below.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.