US authorities recently arrested and charged William Morro in connection with the infamous OneCoin crypto scam. Morro, who had close ties to Gilbert Armenta, the friend of OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova, is accused of bank fraud. This gives the investigation into OneCoin a new chapter. This case has been going on for years.
The case against Morro, where the charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud can carry up to 30 years in prison, is one of many examples of criminal practices in the industry. OneCoin was a disguised pyramid scheme posing as an innovative project.
Morro en OneCoin
According to court documents, Morro was allegedly responsible for transferring $35 million in OneCoin-related funds from accounts in China to an account in Hong Kong in 2016. The indictment further alleges that he moved more than $6 million from this account to an account he controlled in the U.S. as part of a scheme to defraud.
Morro, who voluntarily turned himself in to authorities, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and has been released pending his sentencing, scheduled for August 1. A seizure order has also been issued for the illegally acquired assets in the OneCoin case.
Morro’s connection to Gilbert Armenta, who was jailed for five years in 2023 for his role in laundering about $300 million related to OneCoin, points to the deep interconnectedness of the network behind the scam. OneCoin, founded in 2014 and exposed as a fraudulent enterprise in 2015, has cost investors an estimated $4 billion.
It is still unclear what prompted US authorities to file new charges against Morro, eight years after his alleged fraudulent actions. Ruja Ignatova, also known as the ‘CryptoQueen’, is still on the run and is currently on the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives list.
Source: https://bitcoinmagazine.nl/nieuws/onecoin-scam-opnieuw-in-het-nieuws-william-morro-is-aangeklaagd
