A court in the UK has rejected a request to ban Christopher Hamilton’s extradition to the US in connection with the OneCoin cryptocurrency pyramid scheme. Reported by Law360.

American officials accused the Briton of money laundering and electronic fraud. Since the crime was committed outside the United States, he asked the court to leave the judgment to the jurisdiction of his country of citizenship.

“It is in their interest to hold the perpetrators accountable wherever the victims are. […]. This factor speaks in favor of extradition,” the court decided.

This is not a final decision and may be reviewed by a higher authority.

Robert McDonald, another defendant in the case, avoided extradition. According to the verdict, he is the guardian of a “very sick” wife and has expressed “clear and sincere suicidal intent” if handed over to US authorities. The court also pointed out that there was no clear evidence of MacDonald’s financial gains.

The British case concerned the laundering of $105 million linked to the OneCoin pyramid scheme. According to investigators, the funds were sent to Hamilton-controlled accounts on behalf of Viola Asset Management. At the time, McDonald was a compliance officer for the company.

In 2014, Ruja Ignatova co-founded the OneCoin financial pyramid with Sebastian Greenwood.

The project was initially positioned as a highly profitable cryptocurrency, in which investors profit not only from the growth of the asset, but also to attract new participants.

Earlier, the Southern District of New York court found OneCoin attorney Mark Scott guilty of laundering nearly $400 million, Ignatova was charged in absentia in the US. His whereabouts are unknown since 2017.

In March 2020, Konstantin Ignatov, brother of the founder of OneCoin, was detained at the Los Angeles airport. He later admitted to several charges.

The US government managed to delay Ignatov’s sentence, saying that cooperation with him was not yet complete.

In August 2021, Italian authorities charged 14 people linked to OneCoin with aggravated fraud. According to law enforcement, around 11 million euros were processed from local banks in favor of the pyramid.

Recall that Europol added Ruja Ignatova to its list of most wanted criminals in May 2022 and offered a reward of up to 5,000 euros for “important information about her”.

In July, the founder of OneCoin was included in a similar list. FBI.

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