Schneider, a former luxembourg intelligence official and the owner of private intelligence firm sandstone, is facing charges of wire fraud and money laundering upon extradition to the u.s. schneider was arrested on the luxembourg-france border in april 2021 after he was accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. he had been trying to avoid extradition over his alleged crimes, but a court in paris upheld the request from the u.s. department of justice.
Alleged crimes are linked to onecoin, a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme. schneider described his role at onecoin as a “crisis manager” for the scheme’s founder ruja ignatova. three of her alleged associates appeared in a german court in october, and konstantin ignatov pled guilty in 2019 to fraud and money laundering. 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. ruja ignatova was added to both europol and the fbi’s most wanted lists earlier this year.
Statements and misrepresentations were made to solicit individuals throughout the world to invest in onecoin. schneider would face up to five years in prison if he is prosecuted in luxembourg, but in the u.s., time served would be closer to 40 years. the prime minister of schneider’s home country, luxembourg, will not intervene in the extradition. the scheme was an attempt to defraud investors and make illegal profits for those involved.
https://decrypt.co/116621/us-court-unseals-indictment-onecoin-crypto-queen-crisis-manager
