Córdoba businessmen were victims of an alleged scam involving fake cryptocurrency between 2018 and 2019
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The owners of the development company Márquez y Asociados, from Córdoba, were involved as victims in the case of the international OneCoin scam. According to the judicial investigation, the businesspeople made million-dollar transfers in dollars during 2018 and 2019, believing they were participating in a legitimate investment. In total, the losses amount to 1.32 million dollars, most of which belonged to the company's assets.
The case is being analyzed in the 10th Criminal Chamber of Córdoba, as part of the trial against an organization accused of raising funds through a cryptocurrency that never existed. The list of victims includes brothers Ariel and Juan Pablo Márquez, along with accountant Ramiro Gonzalo Nieva. The three carried out transactions based on an alleged investment offer promoted by local representatives of OneCoin.
The scheme was detected by prosecutor Enrique Gavier, who is also investigating the bankruptcy of the construction company for fraud in the sale of homes. According to the case file, the Márquez brothers were contacted in August 2018 by Mariana Noel López, who organized a meeting with alleged OneCoin agents. From that point on, the money movements began, culminating in the million-dollar loss.
OneCoin fue creada por los hermanos búlgaros Ruja Ignatova y Konstantin Ignatov
The origin of the global OneCoin fraud
OneCoin was created by Bulgarian siblings Ruja Ignatova and Konstantin Ignatov, who developed a pyramid scheme that promised a non-existent cryptocurrency. Through conferences and massive events in different capitals around the world, they managed to attract thousands of investors, including Argentine businesspeople. In Córdoba, meetings were held in luxury hotels that served to recruit contributors.
Ignatova, considered one of the minds behind the fraud, disappeared shortly after the collapse of the financial scheme. Her brother Konstantin was arrested in March 2019 at Los Angeles airport, accused of money laundering and wire fraud. By then, the supposed cryptocurrency had never been issued and the collapse of the system left thousands of victims worldwide.
Márquez and Nieva appear as victims in incidents 18, 19, and 20 of the case file, corresponding to transactions between October 2018 and April 2019. The detailed transfers include amounts of 65,136, 142,600, 58,500, 408,400, 120,546, and 142,600 dollars, among others. According to the investigation, in just one of the episodes, 1,133,190 dollars were sent from company funds.
Los hermanos Márquez están acusados de múltiples estafas
The financial setback of the Córdoba developers
In addition to the business loss, the victims made two personal transfers: Juan Pablo Márquez sent 30,963 dollars and Nieva, 67,425 dollars.In total, the three transactions add up to 1,231,578 dollars lost in the international scam. All the transactions were made under the promise of acquiring "educational packages" that would allow access to the cryptocurrency.
The investigation keeps that the funds were transferred to accounts linked to regional representatives of OneCoin. These transactions were carried out on different dates, between October 2018 and April 2019, when the fraud was beginning to be reported in several countries. None of the Córdoba investors managed to recover the money.
The trial, which began this week in Córdoba, includes several defendants for repeated fraud and illicit association. Among them are the alleged local promoters of the financial scheme, responsible for organizing the recruitment events. The prosecution keeps that they acted as direct intermediaries for the international leaders of the fraud.
