OneCoin associate Irina Dilkinska charged following US extradition

Irina Dilkinska, a Bulgarian woman involved in the crypto scam OneCoin, has been extradited to the U.S. and has been charged, according to the DOJ on March 21.

Dilkinska faces multiple charges

An announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice States that Dilkinska was extradited on March 20 and will soon appear before a U.S. magistrate judge.

Dilkinska served as OneCoin’s Head of Legal and Compliance. The newly-unsealed charges against Dilkinska allege that she helped to create shell companies in order to launder proceeds and manage property belonging to “crypto queen” Ruja Ignatova.

Furthermore, Dilkinska allegedly helped OneCoin lawyer and conspirator Mark Scott launder $400 million in proceeds. Following Scott’s arrest, she destroyed incriminating information and notified another individual of the arrest, thereby incriminating herself.

Dilkinska has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, each of which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison. She has not yet been sentenced.

Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, noted that Dilkinska ironically “accomplished the exact opposite of her job title” by facilitating fraud.

Other OneCoin developments

Various other members of the OneCoin scam have made the news in recent months.

In December 2022, Karl Sebastian Greenwood was convicted. That same month, another OneCoin associate, Frank Schneider, faced trial. Developments around two associates in the U.K. — Christopher Hamilton and Robert McDonald — also occurred in 2022.

Reports in February suggested that the scam’s leader, Ruja Ignatova, was killed by Bulgarian mobsters in 2018. However, January reports suggest that Ignatova’s name appeared on more recent property filings. Both reports are unverified and have not been acknowledged by the DOJ, which continues to seek information on Ignatova’s location.

OneCoin succeeded in stealing $4 billion from its victims.