Estonian Nationals Plead Guilty in $577 Million Crypto HashFlare Ponzi Scheme

The U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Western District of Washington secured $400 million in asset forfeiture as a part of a responsible plea from two Estonian nationals who operated a $577 million crypto Ponzi scheme.

Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, each 40,  pleaded responsible to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after promoting fraudulent crypto mining contracts by way of their firm HashFlare. 

Nevertheless, the defendants lacked the mandatory computing energy to conduct the crypto mining they promised, as an alternative utilizing falsified information on their platform to create the phantasm of success.

As a part of their settlement, the defendants agreed to forfeit belongings, together with actual property, luxurious automobiles, and crypto accounts, in line with a statement on Thursday.

“Between 2015 and 2019, HashFlare’s gross sales totaled greater than $577 million, however HashFlare didn’t possess the requisite computing capability to carry out the overwhelming majority of the mining,” mentioned the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace.

Potapenko and Turõgin now withstand 20 years in jail for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, with their sentencing scheduled for Might 8.

The 2 of them additionally admitted to operating one other fraudulent operation, Polybius, an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) for a digital financial institution venture that raised roughly $31 million in 2017.

The funds raised by way of Polybius have been by no means invested within the financial institution, and no dividends have been ever paid to traders, additional including to the fraudulent nature of their schemes, the assertion reads.

“As a substitute of utilizing the proceeds to create a digital financial institution, Turõgin and Potapenko used a big portion of the proceeds for their very own private profit,” the FBI Seattle workplace said. 

The U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace alleges the defendants laundered the fraud proceeds by way of not less than 75 properties, six luxurious automobiles, crypto wallets, and hundreds of crypto mining machines.

The FBI’s Seattle Discipline Workplace performed a key position within the investigation, working with worldwide legislation enforcement businesses to make sure the defendants have been apprehended and extradited from Estonia.

Each culprits have been arrested on November 20, 2022, in Tallinn, Estonia, and have been later extradited to the U.S. to face prices.

The FBI additionally calls for extra people who consider they have been victims of the Hashflare fraudulent scheme to return ahead. It has arrange a devoted website the place potential victims can submit info.

The responsible plea and the forfeiture are a part of a broad effort by U.S. authorities to carry crypto operators accountable for fraudulent actions. 

The crackdown follows vital actions taken earlier in 2024 when the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Western District of Washington secured a record-breaking $1.51 billion in fines. 

The bulk got here from the worldwide crypto change Binance, which was penalized in a $4.3 billion settlement for violating U.S. rules.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair