Another player in the notorious OneCoin scheme will face charges of wire fraud and money laundering upon extradition to the U.S., according to a newly unsealed indictment.
The document details charges filed against Frank Schneider following a Grand Jury hearing in 2020. It remained sealed until a court in the Southern District of New York approved a request made by U.S. attorney Damian Williams that it be made public on Monday.
The former Luxembourg intelligence official, whose private intelligence firm Sandstone carried out work for OneCoin, is accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
OneCoin's 'Cryptoqueen' Lands on FBI's Most Wanted List
The FBI today added Ruja Ignatova, the self-proclaimed "Cryptoqueen," to its list of Ten Most Wanted fugitives. The agency is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to Ignatova's arrest. Ignatova, who has been on the run since 2017, is accused of operating a massive Ponzi scheme involving a cryptocurrency called OneCoin. Europol also added Ignatova to its most-wanted list in May. According to the FBI's listing, the Department of Justice accused Ignatova and others of defrauding billi...
In an interview published in June this year, Schneider described his role at OneCoin as a “crisis manager” for the scheme’s founder Ruja Ignatova and claimed he had been close with the fugitive so-called “Cryptoqueen.” He also said he was not aware of any potential criminal activities at the time of his involvement.
According to the freshly unsealed indictment:
“Schneider helped to operate an international fraud scheme involving the sale of a purported cryptocurrency known as ‘OneCoin’ – by, among other things, managing the scheme's proceeds and evading law enforcement investigations into the scheme – as part of which false statements and misrepresentations were made to solicit individuals throughout the world, including in the Southern District of New York, to invest in OneCoin, thereby causing individuals to send interstate and international wires representing their OneCoin investments.”
If he is sent to the U.S. to face trial, Schneider will be the latest in a string of people appearing in court in relation to the $4 billion OneCoin Ponzi scheme.
Three alleged associates of Ruja Ignatova appeared in a German court in October, while Ignatova’s own brother Konstantin Ignatov pled guilty in 2019 to fraud and money laundering.
Another man, Christopher Hamilton, is set to be extradited to the U.S. from the U.K. to face charges over his alleged role in the scam.
But the whereabouts of the Cryptoqueen remain unknown. She was added to both Europol and the FBI’s most wanted lists earlier this year.
Frank Schneider’s efforts to avoid extradition
Arrested on the Luxembourg-France border in April 2021, Schneider has been trying to avoid being sent to the U.S. over his alleged crimes.
In October, a court in Paris upheld a previous decision siding with the U.S. Department of Justice that he should be extradited.
Alleged OneCoin ‘Cryptoqueen’ Associates Face Charges in Germany
Three people associated with notorious OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova have appeared in a German court facing charges over their alleged roles in a multibillion-dollar fraud operation. The associates of the famous “Cryptoqueen” fugitive businesswoman are accused of money laundering, fraud, and banking crimes, Bloomberg reported. One man, a Munich lawyer who worked for Ignatova, is alleged to have transferred €20 million ($19.7 million) via the Cayman Islands on her behalf to buy two apartments in...
The Prime Minister of Schneider’s home country, Luxembourg, will not intervene in the extradition, local media reported last month.
From house arrest in Joudreville, in north-eastern France, Schneider told Luxembourg’s Radio 100,7 that he would prefer to be prosecuted in Luxembourg, where he would face up to five years in prison.
In the U.S., time served would be closer to 40 years, which he said would be “like a death sentence.”
