The Department of Justice is advancing a case alleging that two men in Estonia cheated investors in a byzantine cryptocurrency mining operation that generated $575 million, authorities said.
Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, both 39, were arrested in Tallinn, Estonia, and charged on an 18-count indictment filed in the Western District of Washington, DOJ said in a statement today. According to the indictment, the duo claimed to offer virtual currency mining rights to customers for a fee, but in reality they were relying on sham invoices, fabricated documents, and a crypto mining capacity of less than 1% of what they told customers. Potapenko and Turõgin, and others who were unnamed in the indictment, spent the money people paid them on real estate properties in Estonia, luxury cars, and lavish gifts, authorities said.
