A Bulgarian cryptocurrency exchange CEO was sentenced to ten years in prison for his role in a multi-million dollar transnational online auction fraud that victimized Americans.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. District Court Judge Rober E. Weir ordered the ten years imprisonment of Rossen G. Iossifov, the owner and CEO of RG Coins, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Iopssifov was found guilty of conspiracy to commit a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) offense and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The Bulgarian crypto exchange CEO “knowingly and intentionally engaged in business practices designed to both assist fraudsters in laundering the proceeds of their fraud and to shield himself from criminal liability, according to the Justice Department.
900 Americans lost over $7M from online auction fraud
Additionally, the DOJ noted, “At least five of Iossifov’s principal clients in Bulgaria were Romanian scammers, who belonged to a criminal enterprise known in court records as the Alexandria (Romania) Online Auction Fraud (AOAF) Network.”
