The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington secured $400 million in asset forfeiture as part of a guilty plea from two Estonian nationals who operated a $577 million crypto Ponzi scheme.
Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, both 40, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after selling fraudulent crypto mining contracts through their company HashFlare.
However, the defendants lacked the necessary computing power to conduct the crypto mining they promised, instead using falsified data on their platform to create the illusion of success.
As part of their agreement, the defendants agreed to forfeit assets, including real estate, luxury vehicles, and crypto accounts, according to a statement on Thursday.
May 15 2025
