An Estonian court overturned the extradition of crypto entrepreneurs, accused of a $575 million crypto fraud, to the US.
An Estonian court overturned the extradition of two crypto entrepreneurs who were arrested in November 2022 on an 18-count indictment for their alleged involvement in a $575 million crypto fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
According to the Estonian newspaper Postimees, the Tallinn Circuit Court accepted the appeals on November 29, 2023 saying that the Estonian government had failed to investigate or consider important circumstances when making the decision to extradite HashFlare co-founders Ivan Turogin and Sergei Potapenko .
Shortly after Turogin and Potapenko were arrested in Estonia, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) issued a written request requesting their extradition to the United States. However, the Tallinn court ruled that the government orders should be annulled as a “substantial violation” had occurred. of the duty to investigate,” the report says.
According to the Department of Justice, Turogin and Potapenko allegedly defrauded “hundreds of thousands of victims through a multifaceted scheme.”
“The size and scope of the alleged plan is truly astonishing. “These defendants capitalized on both the appeal of cryptocurrencies, and the mystery surrounding cryptocurrency mining, to commit a massive Ponzi scheme.”
Nick Brown, United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington
In the indictment, the US regulator wrote that the two tricked victims into purchasing fraudulent equipment rental contracts with a HashFlare crypto mining service and investing in a crypto bank called Polybius Bank. However, prosecutors claim the two companies operated as Ponzi schemes. According to the Department of Justice, Potapenko and Turogin used shell companies to launder the proceeds of fraud and purchase real estate and luxury cars.
