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4 Russian Nationals Charged with Running a $340 Million Crypto Ponzi Scheme
US authorities accuse Vladimir Okhotnikov, Olena Oblamska, Mikhail Sergeev and Sergey Maslakov - the founders of the dubious cryptocurrency investment platform Forsage - of orchestrating a global Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of about $340 million. All defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Another multi-million scam? A federal grand jury in the District of Oregon alleges that Forsage's founders portrayed the platform as a legitimate decentralized matrix project based on network marketing and smart contracts. The Russian managers also presented their business as a lucrative investment opportunity and...
4 Russian Nationals Charged with Running a $340 Million Crypto Ponzi Scheme
US authorities accuse Vladimir Okhotnikov, Olena Oblamska, Mikhail Sergeev and Sergey Maslakov - the founders of the dubious cryptocurrency investment platform Forsage - of orchestrating a global Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of about $340 million.
All defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Another multi-million scam?
A federal grand jury in the District of Oregonclaimsthat Forsage's founders portrayed the platform as a legitimate decentralized matrix project based on network marketing and smart contracts.
The Russian managers also presented their business as a lucrative investment opportunity, attracting many investors. Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division commented:
"Together with our partners, the Department is committed to holding accountable fraudsters who defraud investors, including in the emerging DeFi space. Today's indictment demonstrates the Department's ability to use all available investigative tools, including blockchain analysis, to uncover sophisticated cryptocurrency and digital asset scams."
Authorities emphasized that the defendants organized their alleged fraud on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Tron blockchains. Further analysis showed that previous investors received funds from newcomers, which is the main principle of a pyramid scheme.
According to investigators, more than 80% of Forsage users received less ETH when they invested in the platform's Ethereum program, while half of investors never received a single payout. The founders are also said to have coded one of the accounts (known as “xGold”) so that “100% of the revenue goes directly and transparently to the members of the project without any risk.”
Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI's Criminal Investigation Division said advances in the cryptocurrency industry could be a double-edged sword as bad actors could take advantage and cause significant financial harm to unsuspecting victims.
The criminalists urged people to exercise extreme caution when entering the digital asset space and to perform appropriate due diligence before transferring funds or sharing personal information with organizations or unknown individuals.
Okhotnikov, Oblamska, Sergeev and Maslakov each face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if found guilty.
The SEC has also filed charges
The US Securities and Exchange Commissioncalculated11 people linked to Forsage last summer, including the four Russian founders. It insisted that the platform operated as a crypto Ponzi scheme for two years and drained over $300 million from victims.
The regulator also sent a cease and desist letter to the platform in late 2020 and March 2021. Despite this, their executives ignored the request and continued to promote their business.
Two of the defendants agreed to pay monetary penalties and civil penalties to resolve issues with the SEC and were cleared from further investigation.
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