Turygin Ivan

History

2022: Arrest in $575m crypto fraud case

In November 2022, it became known about the arrest in Tallinn of two Estonian citizens Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turygin. They are accused of cryptocurrency fraud worth $575 million, as well as money laundering.

According to the press service of the US Department of Justice, the suspects were detained by the Tallinn Central Criminal Police together with the FBI. Potapenko and Turygin are suspected of encouraging victims to enter into fraudulent equipment rental contracts with the HashFlare cryptocurrency mining service and invest in the Polybius Bank virtual currency bank, which was fictitious and did not pay the promised dividends.

Two fraudsters of Estonian cryptomaphy arrested

Potapenko and Turogin then used shell companies to launder fraudulently obtained income, acquire real estate and luxury cars, the US Department of Justice said.

According to our data, we are talking about a case of fraud committed in Estonia with one of the largest amounts of damage. To date, enough evidence has been collected to detain suspects, "said Oscar Gross, head of the cybercrime bureau of the Estonian Central Criminal Police.

HashFlare operated from 2015 to 2018, after which it was closed, allegedly due to market instability and high equipment and power maintenance costs. According to the authorities, in fact, Potapenko and Turygin built a classic financial pyramid or "Ponzi scheme" and took various measures to make it difficult for customers to receive their funds. For example, they demanded identity documents from users before withdrawing funds (allegedly within the framework of the Know-Your-Customer policy).

It is noted that if convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison.^[1]

Notes

Шаблон:Remarks