The US Justice Department has opened a remission process for victims of the OneCoin fraud, giving people who bought the fake cryptocurrency between 2014 and 2019 a way to seek compensation from forfeited assets. The department said more than $40 million is available for distribution through the program.
The move puts recovered money back into one of crypto’s biggest fraud cases. Prosecutors say OneCoin’s founders and other insiders sold a fake crypto through a global multi-level marketing network and took in more than $4 billion from victims around the world. The recovery pool is far smaller than the total losses, but it is the first formal compensation process now open to claimants.
Victims have until June 30 to file
The process is open to people who bought OneCoin between 2014 and 2019 and suffered a net loss after completing withdrawals or other recoveries are taken into account. Victims must submit a signed petition with supporting documents by June 30, either online or by mail. The Justice Department said the filing is free, and victims do not need a lawyer to take part.
The remission site says Kroll Settlement Administration is handling the process for the department. Victims can file through the official OneCoin remission portal or request a petition form directly from the administrator. The department also warned claimants to watch for impersonation scams and said neither the DOJ nor the administrator will ask for payment.
The money comes from earlier forfeiture cases
DOJ said the compensation fund comes from criminal forfeiture tied to OneCoin prosecutions in the Southern District of New York. Karl Sebastian Greenwood, who co-founded OneCoin with Ruja Ignatova, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2023. Ignatova remains at large, and the FBI still lists her among its Ten Most Wanted fugitives.
That background matters because this is not a new fraud case or a fresh enforcement action. It is the stage where prosecutors begin returning recovered proceeds to victims after years of criminal cases, asset tracing, and forfeiture work.
The recovery process has begun but is not finished
For OneCoin victims, the practical point is simple. Anyone who thinks they qualify now has a deadline and a formal way to file a claim. But filing a petition does not guarantee payment, and the money available is only a small share of the losses tied to the scheme.
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Fhumulani Lukoto
Cryptocurrency Journalist
Fhumulani Lukoto holds a Bachelors Degree in Journalism enabling her to become the writer she is today. Her passion for cryptocurrency and bitcoin started in 2021 when she began producing content in the space. A naturally inquisitive person, she dove head first into all things crypto to gain the huge wealth of knowledge she has today. Based out of Gauteng, South Africa, Fhumulani is a core member of the content team at Coin Insider.