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2020-09-29

Crypto exchange owner convicted of fraudulent activity

Rossen Iossifov, a 53-year-old Bulgarian citizen and crypto owner of the stock exchange "RG Coins", was convicted for running a multi-million dollar ring for money laundering under the international system of auction fraud.

After a two-week trial, Iossifov was found guilty by a federal jury in Frankfurt, Kentucky, for a money laundering conspiracy and for extortion. A resident of Kentucky was convicted on January 12, 2021.

The jury found that at least 900 American citizens were cheated by a program in which Iossifov's Romanian associates placed advertisements on popular auction platforms such as eBay and Craigslist for high value goods such as vehicles that did not exist.

According to a communiqué from the Department of Justice, fraudsters provided their victims with false documents and invoices with trademarks of reputable companies to cultivate the appearance of legality, and even hired a call center and "support staff" to alleviate the concerns of their buyers.

Upon receipt of the payment, Iossifov would convert the funds into crypto assets and transfer them to money launderers in off-shore countries. The jury found that Iossifov deliberately provided services to the criminal syndicate from at least September 2015 to December 2018 - exchanging more than $4.9 million of Bitcoin for four other members.

The arrests were conducted by U.S. state and federal authorities with the help of the Romanian National Police and the Romanian Agency for the Prosecution of Organized Crime.