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Estonian court nixes extradition of accused crypto scammers to US

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Ivan Turogin and Sergei Potapenko, co-founders of Bitcoin cloud miner HashFlare, have efficiently appealed their extradition from Estonia to the USA, the place the 2 face 18 counts of fraud and cash laundering. The Tallinn Circuit Court docket overturned a decrease courtroom’s order on Nov. 29, based on a neighborhood press report.

Based on the USA Justice Division, HashFlare, which operated from 2015 to 2019, was a Ponzi scheme with tons of of 1000’s of victims paying in a complete of $575 million. The corporate claimed to lease hashing energy for crypto mining. It additionally inspired funding in a faux financial institution. If convicted in the USA, Turogin and Potapenko every withstand 20 years in jail.

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Turogin and Potapenko have been arrested in Estonia, the place they’re residents, after a U.S. grand jury returned an indictment in November 2022. The Estonian authorities authorized their extradition in September. Based on the BBC, the investigation of the lads was carried out in Estonia with the assistance of 15 Individuals and was one of many greatest fraud circumstances within the nation’s historical past.

The businessmen’s protection supplied “proof relating to the situations of detention in the USA” that the federal government had not thought-about and claimed there have been procedural irregularities in issuing the extradition orders. In overturning these orders, the circuit courtroom cited European Court docket of Justice and the European Court docket of Human Rights follow.

The HashFlare homepage. Supply: HashFlare

The courtroom ordered Turogin, Potapenko and their households to obtain over 100,000 euros ($110,000) in reimbursement. Its resolution may be appealed by Dec. 11.

Estonia handed enhanced Anti-Cash Laundering legal guidelines, together with the introduction of the Monetary Motion Process Pressure Journey Rule, that led to the closure of virtually 400 digital asset service suppliers in Could.

Journal: E For Estonia: How Digital Natives are Creating the Blueprint for a Blockchain Nation