Tens of thousands of Germans had invested in a cryptocurrency called OneCoin.
But that was fictitious.
Now the trial against three defendants begins in Münster - but the outcome is completely open.
On September 17, the trial of three suspects in the OneCoin complex will be opened at the Münster Regional Court. This was confirmed by a spokesman for the regional court at the request of Ippen Investigativ *.
A couple from Greven and a lawyer from Munich then have to answer in court.
The three defendants are accused of supporting the distribution of a fictitious crypto currency called OneCoin and thus providing illegal payment services.
In Germany alone, 60,000 people believed in OneCoin and invested in it; worldwide there were hundreds of thousands.
Ippen Investigativ last reported on it in September 2020.
To date, it is unclear how much money has disappeared in OneCoin
The process, which is now beginning in Münster, could for the first time provide detailed insights into how a small idea from Germany could become a global system that hundreds of thousands of people fell for - and still do today, because OneCoin is still running, at least on the African continent. In Europe, America and Asia, too, numerous people still believe that OneCoin is a great financial revolution that could break out at any moment and replace our monetary system.
How much money exactly disappeared in OneCoin is still unclear to this day.
Most recently, the sum of 15 billion dollars circulated.
However, since not all accounts, companies and networks behind OneCoin are known, the damage could also be significantly higher.
Only one thing is certain: billions have disappeared around the world, in anonymous funds, company networks, villas, yachts and diamonds.
If those responsible were actually convicted one day, OneCoin would be one of the biggest fraud cases of all time.
Ippen Investigativ continues to research the subject of "OneCoin". Do you have any tips or hints that we should follow up? Then get in touch with our reporter: at recherche@ippen-investigativ.de or at 0171/75 900 73.
Because OneCoin investors should also recruit new members themselves and then receive commissions on their investment, OneCoin is now regarded by many observers as a classic pyramid scheme.
In 2019, some of the leading minds behind OneCoin had disappeared from one day to the next, and the system collapsed.
To this day, countless people are waiting to get their money back.
In 2019 the "Cryptoqueen" disappeared - it is still sought worldwide today
Investigations against those responsible for OneCoin have been ongoing for years. Most accused are people who had distributed the alleged crypto currency and lured people into the system. The actual masterminds and inventors of OneCoin, on the other hand, have not been condemned to this day: Above all, the charismatic founder Ruja Ignatova, a German-Bulgarian who became known worldwide under the title "Cryptoqueen" and through a BBC podcast series of the same name. She was the first to disappear without a trace in the summer of 2019.
In Germany, the Bielefeld public prosecutor's office had initially investigated nine suspects for a whole range of possible offenses: suspicion of commercial and gang fraud, suspicion of money laundering, suspicion of progressive customer acquisition, suspicion of providing financial services without permission and suspicion of providing payment services without Permission.
Only three of the original nine accused could ultimately indict the public prosecutors, and that only for violating the Payment Services Supervision Act. An indication of how complex the matter is here, also from a legal point of view. The Münster district court had admitted the indictment in June, but the judges did so with a little surprise: The court pointed out to the couple from Greven that, in the view of the criminal chamber, a conviction for aiding and abetting fraud - and in a special one severe case - could be considered.
The reason: The company of the two defendants had provided accounts for various OneCoin companies, accepted funds from customers and transferred large sums of money within the global network of companies that belonged to OneCoin.
They are said to have moved 360 million euros, including in anonymous funds in tax havens.
According to the court, these two defendants could have supported the so-called "Cryptoqueen" Ruja Ignatova in fraud or perhaps even made it possible in the first place.
From resourceful business people and enterprising lawyers
Because things are so complex from a legal point of view, the outcome of the process that is now beginning in Münster is completely open. In order to convict someone of fraud or aiding and abetting fraud, the public prosecutor's office must prove that the sums raised with the distribution of OneCoin were actually fraudulently collected and transferred fraudulently to other accounts and funds in tax havens. If the accused can make it credible that they could not have known anything about the possible illegal intentions of the OneCoin inventors, that will be difficult. Then there would “only” be a conviction for violating the Payment Services Supervision Act: If the public prosecutor's office succeeds in proving that the accused's business was an illegal financial transfer business.At least that's how BaFin saw it at the time.
And then there are the more specific questions. When is a cryptocurrency a real cryptocurrency and when is it fictitious? When is a system in direct sales a permitted multi-level marketing and when is a forbidden pyramid scheme? All of this cannot always be said with absolute clarity. Also because the case law sometimes takes years to adapt to new technical developments. The vacuum that has developed in the meantime can be used by resourceful business people - and it is not uncommon for enterprising lawyers to be only too happy to help them.
This is also shown by another, smaller procedure at the Augsburg district court. There, two defendants were only acquitted in the summer of 2020, who, as OneCoin sales partners, are said to have convinced 75 people to put their money in OneCoin. The court in Augsburg acquitted the defendants because, in the opinion of the judge, it was not unequivocally established that this should have been done with the means of unfair customer acquisition - in other words: that the characteristics for an illegal pyramid scheme were unequivocally present. The court here did not have to rule on anything else.
The Augsburg judge insisted on writing a more than unambiguous note in his judgment: In his judgment it was not misunderstood “that OneCoin is possibly a large fraud system that was only used by the initiators for the purpose was founded to steal money from gullible investors. Strictly speaking, there is little to suggest that investors will ever see a cent of their investment again. ”The Augsburg public prosecutor has appealed against the acquittal, and there are no appointments to deal with the appeal.
From mid-September it will show whether, at least in Münster, the chances for German OneCoin investors could increase again to see part of their money again - after all, then no longer rather insignificant sales partners will be on trial, but people with close connections to the inner circle of OneCoin .
The answer, however, could be a while in coming: This year alone there are 17 negotiation dates.
Numerous will follow in 2022: The current schedule is until May 2022.
* Ippen Investigativ is the investigative team from IPPEN.MEDIA, one of the largest German news platforms, to which our editorial team also belongs. You can find out more about this and how you can contact the research team at ippen-investigativ.de
More on the subject:
OneCoin was able to steal billions even though banks had informed the authorities
The billions fraud
BBC podcast "The missing cryptoqueen"
