2 Estonians plead guilty to $577M crypto scheme
SEATTLE – Two Estonian nationals have pleaded guilty to a massive $577 million cryptocurrency scheme that reached as far as western Washington.
According to the Department of Justice, 40-year-olds Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the U.S. District Court in Seattle. As part of their plea agreements, both agreed to forfeit more than $400 million in assets seized during the investigation.
The backstory:
Court records show that Potapenko and Turõgin ran a fraudulent cryptocurrency mining service called HashFlare.
Between 2015 and 2019, the two sold contracts to customers to mine Bitcoin for a share of the profits. In reality, HashFlare did not have anywhere near the…
